Key points:
- General Conference paused legislative work after learning that multiple law enforcement officers were shot, three fatally, a few miles from the Charlotte Convention Center. Five other officers were wounded.
- Bishop Ken Carter, who leads the Charlotte Episcopal Area, issued a statement praying “for all who are in the midst of this tragic violence.”
- A Western North Carolina Conference delegate is pastor to family members of one of the officers killed.
As news spread of deadly shootings of law enforcement officers in Charlotte, North Carolina, General Conference delegates paused to pray for victims and the community.
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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reported late on April 29 that three members of a multi-agency U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were killed earlier in the day after trying to serve a warrant for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Five other officers also were wounded by gunfire, and one, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, died a few hours after the incident.
A suspect in the incident was killed, police said.
The shootings occurred about seven miles east of the Charlotte Convention Center, where General Conference is underway through May 3.
“Today is an absolutely tragic day for the city of Charlotte and the profession of law enforcement,” said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings. “Today, we lost some heroes.”
North Carolina Conference Bishop Connie Shelton led General Conference delegates in prayer for several minutes after news organizations began to share sketchy details of an unfolding tragedy.
“That room was so quiet,” said Jennifer Davis, a Western North Carolina Conference delegate to General Conference.
Davis added that she hoped those directly affected by the shootings would know that “the whole world” — in the form of United Methodist delegates representing different continents — was praying for them.
Davis has for many years been a human resources consultant to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, training one class of officers after another.
“These are some of the finest men and women I know. They are like my children and many of them call me ‘Momma’ or ‘Mother Davis,’ which they refer to as my ‘church name,’” she said.
She asked for continued prayers by delegates and requested that they thank officers providing security for the conference.
Another Western North Carolina Conference delegate, Haveleh Havelka, noted that the slain officer, Joshua Eyer, attended United Methodist-related Pfeiffer University, as did his wife, Ashley Eyer. Havelka was on staff at the school when they were students and said the couple had many connections to the Western North Carolina Conference.
Charlotte Area Bishop Ken Carter prayed with Davis in a room off the plenary floor on April 29, and later issued a statement.
“We pray for all who are in the midst of this tragic violence: for safety, for healing, for life, for the medical responders and for those who live in the immediate neighborhoods surrounding the violence,” he said.
Hodges is a Dallas-based writer for United Methodist News. Aimee Yeager of the Western North Carolina Conference contributed to this report. Contact Hodges at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.
