Police: Melbourne man tried to rob church during sermon

Pastor Les Snodgrass was in the middle of his Sunday sermon, preaching about the value of life and tribulation, when a man stood up in the middle of the small congregation and pointed a gun at his 76-year-old mother’s head, demanding cash.

“He was shouting obscenities. My mother was trembling and falling. Then he told my wife to tie up the children ... I just knew I had to act,” said Snodgrass of The Door Christian Fellowship Church in Melbourne.

And act he did, along with his son, eventually taking down the man with the gun and holding him for police.

The terrifying moments were captured on an audio tape released by Melbourne Police on Monday. The recording clearly includes the sound of crying and screaming in the church.

“It is very frustrating. The church is supposed to be a safe haven for people,” said Cmdr. Dan Lynch, a spokesman for the Melbourne Police Department.

Melbourne police arrested John Grace, 21, of Melbourne, Lynch said. He was charged with aggravated assault, robbery with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.

As of Tuesday, Grace remains held without bond.

The suspect had sat during the non-denominational church’s morning service before pulling out a BB gun realistically modeled after a Sig Sauer pistol and aiming it at the woman’s head, police reported.

“He told everybody to get on the floor,” Lynch said.

The incident comes nearly two months after the shooting that left nine dead — including a pastor — during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised national concern about security at houses of faith. Melbourne police officers, who have investigated several church vandalisms in recent months, are already working a presentation on increasing security next week for houses of faith.

There were seven people, not including Grace, who were in the church at the time.

“(John’s) parents come to our church and he comes out periodically,” said Darius Snodgrass, the pastor’s son. “But for some reason he just stood up and held a gun up to my grandmother’s head and forced me to go to the altar.”

The pastor was teaching the small group about the tribulation against the church and even cited recent cases in which Good Samaritans were shot and killed after helping a stranger. Then, as he spoke about Jesus, police said Grace jumped up and can be heard on the tape yelling, “get on the floor.”

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Grace demanded cash from churchgoers and threatened to shoot the pastor’s mother if they did not follow his instructions. Grace, who was also carrying a large knife, according to police, also threw out zip ties and told them to tie themselves up. Police later found a bag belonging to Grace that police said held duct tape and torn cloth.

The pastor, Leslie Snodgrass, asked Grace several times, “what are you doing Johnny?” Darius Snodgrass recalled. People were crying — including the pastor’s mother and 10-year-old daughter, Snodgrass said.

“I believe the Holy Ghost gave me strength to grab him by the shoulders, my son also jumped about six feet in the air. The blade was at my back,” Snodgrass said Monday.

Shortly after the struggle to subdue Grace, Snodgrass can be heard saying to his son to call police and to “tell them we were just assaulted in our own church.” The family talked with Grace who shouted, “I don’t know why I did it,” according to the audio released by police.

Police said Grace could be heard on the audio tape saying, “I don’t have much of a life ... I just don’t have much of an answer ... I know you hate me.”

Lynch added that the robber didn’t get anything. “You robbed a church with no money, Johnny,” the pastor told Grace. Melbourne police arrived at the scene within minutes and took Grace into custody. Several members were badly shaken, including one woman who was could not even write a statement.

“The whole thing last about two minutes ... it was terrifying,” Darius Snodgrass told FLORIDA TODAY.

Police also found the BB gun. Grace was booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes.

Pastor Snodgrass said the incident won’t stop his church.

“I never thought he would do something like this. We have had to order some homeless people out of the congregation but I never thought it would be Johnny,” Snodgrass said.

“Why did it happen? We’re targets. The whole mentality about Christianity has radically shifted.”