Pastor Philip Penrod was sitting in Our Saviour Lutheran Church Monday night just a block from where Const. Daniel Woodall was killed.
He remembers hearing sirens during his meeting — which made him think about a separate shooting that happened at the church just two weeks earlier. In that case, the victim survived, and the shooter quickly caught, he said.
“We were a little bit worried, but we had no idea the scale of what was unfolding,” he said Wednesday.
It wasn’t until he and the others finished their work and walked out of the church that they realized something was very wrong.
Police were cordoning off the neighbourhood, telling people to go home and stay there for their own safety.
At first, Penrod followed their advice, heading towards home, but then he returned to the church at Callingwood Drive and 184th Street, turned on the lights and opened its doors to police, first responders and neighbours who needed shelter.
Police set up a mobile control centre in the church’s parking lot and first responders were in and out of the church throughout the evening, Penrod said.
“The number one thing that sticks in my mind is just how thankful the police and first responders were just for the simple act of having a place where there were lights on and bathrooms they could use,” he said.
“These were people that are putting themselves in harm’s way to protect our neighbourhood and they’re taking the time to pop into my office and thank us.
“It just really goes to show you the quality of people that we have in our city and in particular in our first responders.”
Vigil planned
Many in the neighbourhood are still in shock after the shooting. Others are angry.
Hoping to help the community to deal with Woodall’s death, Penrod has joined forces with other religious leaders in the neighbourhood to plan a walking vigil on Friday night that will circumnavigate the crime scene.
The vigil will start at 4 p.m. at Good Shepherd Catholic Church; head down Callingwood Drive to St. Mathias church and onto the Presebyterian Church by 6 p.m. People are welcome to join in for the entire walk or a part of it, he said.
Penrod hopes walking en masse will help people who live in the area feel they are taking back the neighbourhood.
“It will be a time to gather and remind ourselves of all the positive relationships that already exist in our community,” he said.
“We think it’s really important as we move forward to try to understand how this tragedy happened and how we might prevent something like it from happening again.”
