An American pastor based in Alabama, Elder Ulysses Woodward, shot himself to death minutes after shooting his wife, who had earlier preached a powerful message in a church, The Christian Post is reporting.
Woodward shot himself thinking his wife was dead.
The couple was running True Word of Deliverance Church of God in Prichard, Alabama but had been estranged for about two weeks before the incident.
Pasto Derek Scott Gandy said Alisha, who is in her 20s, had preached the second night of the 2020 Women of God Through Promise Conference at True Cornerstone Church.
She preached on the story of Elisha the prophet and the Shunammite woman as recorded in 2 Kings.
“She was just encouraging us all that even when things like death is all around, even when it seems like the blessing does not look like it’s gonna be there, just keep on pressing toward it,” Gandy said.
He said devil showed up in a deadly way shortly after her sermon.
Christian Post reported that the Mobile Police Department, in a statement, said at about 11.23 pm on Friday, they responded to the church on Halls Mill Road upon receiving report about somebody being shot.
It said when the police got there they saw a woman on the ground who had been shot.
The newspapers reported that the suspect involved fled the scene just as the police arrived. It said that the police pursued him and subsequently returned to the church and that while the officers approached him, Woodward shot and killed himself.
However, his wife was taken to the hospital where she is recuperating.
Gandy said Woodward approached him when he (Gandy) was about to leave the church.
He said, “When I went outside, he just said, ‘Pastor, can I talk to my wife please? And I said, ‘Sure, that’s your wife.’ And he never said anything to anyone. He did not stress anyone. He did not disrespect anyone. He never raised his voice at all.”
Gandy further said when he locked the church’s door he saw the couple talking and that every other person had left the church except himself, his three children, two church members travelling with him and Alisha.
Gandy said the situation got worse when he tried to offer Alisha a ride home.
“My initial response was I got back out of my car and I said to them, “Let me take her home.’ We were gonna give her a ride home. We had picked her up for our service,” he said.
Gandy said he later left the couple alone because he did not want to get involved in domestic issues.
“I sat in the car to wait for her to finish talking. But then when she started screaming, hollering, let go, stop, then he had come over,” he said. He said Alisha was trying to get away into his car but Woodward grabbed her arm.
He managed to keep her in his grasp and he managed to get to his car and that’s where he had his weapon.
Gandy stated further, “I was in my car. The door was open. We pulled on against the weapon, standing right next to me. And he shot her.”