There is a surveillance tape.
Dude drove up in a red convertible, removed two "Samurai" swords, and advanced on a group of armed security guards while brandishing those swords.
The security guard challenged him, ordered him to stop, and waited until he was actually close enough to be a serious personal threat to the guards before finally shooting.
Their "Celebrity Center" location serves a number of high-profile . . . uh . . . celebrities, as well as executives and business owners.
They take their security very seriously. They employ a private firm with armed staff to look after that stuff.
It doesn't take a genius to understand why.
Micro makes a good point. If it had been any other church, the news would have simply said "a church," or possibly, "a synagogue." The media is alert, however, to any opportunity to do their "OH NOES, A CULT!" thing. Except, in this instance, the media have played this one really, really straight. I think the surveillance tape and the remarks of the Deputy Chief may have helped keep the speculation down.
While ideally any church would be well advised to have armed ushers or other staff, there is always the sticky bit of having the press drag the church over the coals, wondering sternly about an "armed church" and drawing weird conclusions.
So it only makes sense -- especially if your church has been routinely attacked since the sixties -- to keep relentless attorneys and armed security firms on your payroll.
One of the neighboring residents made an interesting remark, along the lines of: "That's one of the nice things about living here, you get security for free."
So, what did we learn today?
Protecting your church and its parishioners is a good thing.
Alternatively, the story reads, ". . . more than a dozen celebrities and business executives were injured today in a bloody attack by a sword-wielding madman . . ." instead of the more pedestrian "nutjob attacks church location, gets shot for his trouble."
Good on them for having ARMED security.
