2 Priests Shot With Paintball Guns Outside South Side Church
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A local priest was left shaken when two of his fellow clergymen were shot at with a paintball gun while visiting his church on Pittsburgh's South Side.
The incident happened this weekend outside the Russian Orthodox Church on South 19th Street.
The priests were hit by paintballs while they were wearing civilian clothes. One of them is from Carnegie and the other from Arnold.
Fr. Patrick Carpenter is the longtime pastor of the South Side's Holy Assumption of St. Mary Russian Orthodox Church.
"There was paint splattered on the door here, then here, and you can see some of the residue paint there," said Rev. Carpenter.
He said he and two brother priests went out for dinner Sunday night and when they returned to the church around 9:30 p.m., he went into the rectory for a moment.
"They wanted to see the church renovations that we just completed," said Fr. Carpenter. "While they waited outside, I had to go around and open the church because the security was on, but by the time I got there, they had an incident where someone shot them with a paint gun."
Neither priest was seriously hurt, but the incident left all three men surprised.
"One was hit in the torso. The other, apparently it bounced off his elbow and hit the church door," Fr. Carpenter said. "Fr. George was like, 'I don't believe this happened.' I said, 'Neither do I,' and unfortunately, Fr. Mark had a large bruise on his chest from it."
No one was able to provide a description of the car involved. Since it was relatively early in the evening, police are hoping that a passer-by or a neighbor got a glimpse of the paintball shooter or the car involved.
For his part, Fr. Patrick thinks the incident was a prank, and it was not directed at his friends because they're priests.
"It was someone being silly," he said. "This is sad; people forget that stupid actions often times bring injuries and harms to others. That's what we're dealing with. Unfortunately, this is becoming more common here on the South Side."
Fr. Patrick says the church at one time considered putting up surveillance cameras, but the idea was never followed through. Now, they may be taking a second look at security cameras.
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