Deacon who subdued North Braddock church gunman to receive Carnegie Hero Fund medal

A deacon who subdued a gunman in a North Braddock church May 5 will receive a Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.

Clarence McCallister, 63, is included in a list of 18 new medal recipients released by the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

McCallister, who is a heavy equipment repair specialist, is credited with saving the Rev. Glenn A. Germany, 54, pastor of Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church. Germany was delivering a sermon when a 26-year-old man approached the altar, aimed a loaded pistol at the pastor and pulled the trigger.

As the gun failed to fire, Germany sought cover under a pulpit and McCallister, who was recording video of the service, ran about 10 feet, leapt over a railing and took the assailant to the ground, controlling the man’s arms.

Germany grasped the assailant’s wrists and the gun’s barrel until McCallister pulled the weapon away. Germany restrained the gunman until police arrived about 20 minutes later, according to a narrative posted on the Carnegie Medal website.

Neither McCallister nor Germany was injured in the confrontation that unfolded in real time on the Facebook Live video.

Speaking with TribLive, Germany described his survival as a miracle. He called McCallister a true hero.

“He was unselfish and unafraid to actually jump on a guy who he saw having a gun,” Germany said. “I’m just glad and grateful. It was truly a miracle.”

State police arrested Bernard J. Polite of North Braddock on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the May 5 incident. He is in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 6.

Polite also is charged with criminal homicide in connection with the shooting death of his cousin, Derek Polite, 56, earlier the same day. Relatives found the elder Polite, who had been shot in the head, lying in a pool of blood in his North Braddock home, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

Germany told TribLive he had never met Bernard Polite before the incident at the church.

“When I saw the gun, I was just trying to get out of the way. I didn’t have time to think. I just reacted,” Germany said.

“Once he pointed the gun at his head, I just jumped into action, a reaction,” said McCallister, who has attended the church for the past nine years. “I’m thankful that the pastor was getting out of the way and that the bullet got jammed in the gun. I’m just so thankful that nobody got hurt. Thank God that that bullet got jammed in that chamber.”

McCallister will be presented with his medal at the Dec. 10 board meeting of the commission.

Nominees for the honor must be “a civilian who voluntarily risks death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person,” according to the commission website.