A Brooklyn bishop and his spouse have been robbed throughout a live-streamed sermon on Sunday after armed assailants stormed the service and made off with round $400,000 price of bijou, police mentioned.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead was in the course of delivering his sermon on the Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide Ministries church in Canarsie when three gunmen burst in at round 11:15 am, the New York Police Division mentioned.
The armed assailants “displayed firearms and demanded property” from the 44-year-old bishop and his spouse, 38, police mentioned.
“Once I see them come into the sanctuary with their weapons, I informed everyone to get out, everyone simply get out,” Whitehead mentioned in a video posted to Instagram following the incident. “I did not know in the event that they wished to shoot the church up or in the event that they have been simply coming for a theft.”
In the long run, he mentioned he was grateful that it was the latter, however mentioned “they took all of my spouse’s jewellery and took all of my jewellery,” together with his wedding ceremony band.
In video shared on-line by native media shops showing to indicate the incident, which was captured on a livestream that seems to have since been taken down, Whitehead will be heard saying “alright, alright,” earlier than dropping to the bottom on his arms and knees .
A masked suspect can later be seen approaching the bishop and holding what seems to be a firearm pointed at his again, earlier than showing to make away along with his jewellery. The video has not but been independently verified by NBC Information.
Police mentioned the attackers have been believed to have taken round $400,000 price of bijou in complete earlier than fleeing the service on foot and coming into a white Mercedes Benz. They have been final seen touring eastbound on Avenue D, police mentioned.
In his video posted to Instagram, Lamor mentioned he tried to chase the suspects after they fled.
He mentioned he hoped they’d flip themselves in over the incident, which he mentioned had left many in his congregation “traumatized.”
“The ladies and kids that was in my church, my daughter, she’s traumatized proper now. She’s not even speaking,” he mentioned.
The bishop additionally pushed again towards feedback and headlines that described him as “flashy” along with his jewellery in his live-streamed companies.
“It is not about me being flashy. It is about me buying what I wish to buy,” he mentioned. “If I labored exhausting for it, I should buy what I wish to buy.”
Police mentioned there have been no bodily accidents reported in reference to the theft. They mentioned an investigation was nonetheless ongoing.
Whitehead had made headlines again in Might after he mentioned he was making an attempt to barter the give up of Andrew Abdullah, the 25-year-old suspect within the deadly taking pictures of Goldman Sachs worker Daniel Enriquez, who was shot aboard a Manhattan-bound Q prepare.
Abdullah was in the end arrested by police individually, nevertheless.
Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide Ministries didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from NBC Information.
This text was initially revealed on NBCNews.com.