Sheriff: Concealed weapon may have saved SC church

BOILING SPRINGS, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina sheriff who urged women in his county to get a concealed weapons permit after a rape in a park last year says a congregant with a gun may have kept bloodshed from happening in a Spartanburg County church.

Authorities say 38-year-old Jesse Gates was armed with a shotgun when he kicked in a door Sunday at the Southside Freewill Baptist Church.

Sheriff Chuck Wright says the pastor’s grandson saw Gates coming toward the church with the gun. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Gates after he broke in. That allowed the pastor to take the shotgun away.

Gates told reporters as he was led away in handcuffs that his children had been taken away and he was trying to get someone to listen.