UPDATE: Police arrest suspect after alleged threats against East Texas church

[ABX]

Local news but of interest of what may have been. Emphasis added is mine.

An arrest has been made Sunday night following a man threatening an East Texas church.

The Smith County Sheriff's Office confirms that 40-year-old Rasheed Abdul Aziz has been arrested. He was picked up along the road in the Pine Trails Shores area, off of Hwy 155 South.

Police are actively seeking a man considered armed and dangerous, after he allegedly threatened people at an East Texas church Sunday.

Sergeant Colby with the Tyler Police Department said earlier that a man wearing full military gear including a camo helmet, shirt, pants, and possibly a bulletproof vest, left a church on FM 346 near Cherokee County, heading north in a silver Ford Taurus.

Police have not yet released which church the incident occurred.....

http://www.kltv.com/story/30020245/update-police-arrest-suspect-after-alleged-threats-against-east-texas-church?clienttype=generic

[ABX]

No word yet on what Abdul was planning to do in the church.

[alicewonders]

Glad they caught him!

[ABX]

Update, suspicions confirmed:

On Sunday September 13, 2015 at approximately 2:10pm, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office received
a call from the Corinth Church located on FM-346 near Lake Palestine.

The caller stated that an unknown black male suspect, later Identified as Rasheed Abdul Aziz, 40, wearing a
camouflage helmet, camo pants, tactical vest and boots entered the church around 2:00pm. The caller
also stated that they could see what appeared to be a pistol in his pocket.

The suspect appeared distressed and made the statement that he was a man of Islam, and that God had told him to "slay infidels". Several parishioners brought Aziz into a room away from others at the church while the caller made contact with the Sheriff's Office....

http://www.myeasttex.com/news/local-news/so-man-claimed-god-told-him-to-slay-infidels-at-etx-church

[truth_seeker]

His appearance might be Filipino or Indonesian. Certainly Asian eyes.

[EC]

Hard to tell, nor does it really matter. If he's been inside at all before, he could have been recruited.

[flowers]

Nice pistole.  Isn't that type of ammo pricey? The gun for that matter too?

[mountaineer]

TYLER – A Jacksonville man who allegedly threatened members of a Cherokee County church Sunday morning remains in the Smith County Jail on a $10,000 bond for unlawful possession of a firearm by felon.
 
Rasheed Abdul Aziz, 40, was arrested at approximately 8:20 p.m. Sunday by Smith County deputies after they responded to a call at Beautiful Hills Drive in Flint, according to a press release issued Monday by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

According to the release, the sheriff's office was contacted about 2:10 p.m. Sunday by a caller from Corinth Church, located on FM 346 near Lake Palestine.
 
The release said a caller stated that an unknown black male suspect — later identified as Aziz — wearing a camouflage helmet, camouflage pants, tactical vest and boots entered the church around 2 p.m. The caller also stated that they could see what appeared to be a pistol in his pocket.
 
The caller added that “the suspect appeared distressed and made the statement that he was a man of Islam, and that God had told him to 'slay infidels,'” according to the release, which noted that “several parishioners brought Aziz into a room away from others at the church while the caller made contact with the Sheriff's Office.”
 
However, Aziz fled the scene before deputies arrived at the church, and was seen traveling north ...

More at Corsicana Daily Sun

[EC]

Looks like God did speak to him, and to others. He didn't shoot. Parishioners moved him away from the others, without getting shot. A minor miracle, I'd say.

And looking at the charge - yep. A prison conversion.

[ABX]

Follow up on the pastor who saved everyone:

...Of all the churches Aziz could have walked into, he found one where the pastor is a former parole officer and has prior training in verbal de-escalation, crisis prevention and experience dealing with mentally ill offenders. Johnson’s present full-time job is as a student services intervention specialist in Tyler ISD. In that position, he can work with troubled youth.

“Immediately, just like clockwork, it kicked in,” he said of his past training.

Johnson asked the man to calm down. He stepped up to get between Aziz and the door to the rest of the church. He offered to get him a cool drink and pray for him. And he asked him to sit down.

“I never gave him the power of feeling that he was in control, that I was frightened,” Johnson said. “I just continued to engage, but I was very cautious not to raise my voice or make any quick moves.”

Johnson saw what appeared to be the outline of a gun in Aziz’s pocket. He asked him to have a seat and as Aziz sat down, Johnson patted his shoulder so he could lean over and get a good look at the possible weapon. He saw the bottom of a clip and at the same time said Aziz was becoming more and more irate.....

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/224124/pastor-calms-man-during-church-threat