2 Women Fatally Shot in Church : Masked Gunman Fires Into Crowded Service for Children

Two women were shot to death and two other people wounded by a masked man dressed in black who opened fire on a crowded Bible-study gathering of adults and children at Mt. Olive Church of God in Christ in South-Central Los Angeles Friday night, Newton Division police said.

“Somebody walked into the church with a shotgun and just started shooting,” said Officer Mark Dimitt.

He said the shooting occurred at 9:23 p.m.

The wounded were a man and a woman, Dimitt said.

The Rev. J. C. Brewster, who has been the pastor of Mt. Olive for 20 years, said: “This man was wearing a mask and carrying a gun. He just came walking in and started shooting. Somebody said they heard him say one word but couldn’t understand what it was.”

Brewster said the congregation was mostly made up of children but that none of them were hit as scores of horrified parishioners ran for cover.

“It’s just beyond me why anyone would want to do this,” he said. “Everybody ran for cover when he came in. The women that were killed were hit in the back and so was one of the people that got hurt.”

Another witness said the weapon was a sawed-off shotgun and that most of the churchgoers “hit the floor” when the shots were fired.

Brewster said he knew of no one who had any grudges against the church or its parishioners and no one could identify the shooter. He said the gunman fired three shots before he fled.

The services at the church at Naomi Avenue and 21st Street--commencement exercises to end a weeklong program of vacation Bible school--had attracted about 100 people, and “we were just ready to dismiss when this man in the mask came in,” Brewster said.

The two dead women, ages 35 and 70, were described as longtime members of the mostly black church, located in what has become a largely Latino neighborhood.

Freddie Willis, a mother of 8-year-old twins who were in the church at the time of the attack, said her children called her on the telephone, crying, to tell what had happened. She said a bus driver who transported the children got on the phone and told her: “Somebody came into the church dressed in black and started shooting up the church.”

Sgt. Frank Mena said the two dead women were still inside the church at about 10:30 p.m. He said one man was taken to a hospital with a wound in the leg.

No one had been taken into custody, he said, and it was not known if the shooting was gang related.

“I understand this church is very anti-gang and anti-drug,” Mena said.

As of 11 p.m., all the church members were being held inside the church to be interviewed by detectives.

One teen-age eyewitness said, “Everybody’s upset; some are crying.”