Missouri pastor Mike Coleman is thankful to be alive after being carjacked at gunpoint by two teens in the parking lot of Carondelet Baptist Church in South St. Louis on Friday evening.
The carjacking, which was the latest in a local string of violent crimes, was caught on camera. In the footage, two assailants, who Coleman described as being middle school aged, can be seen approaching Coleman in his minivan and pointing a gun in his face.
Coleman told KMOV that he needed to assist the boys in getting the car started, as they seemed inexperienced.
“Because of their inexperience, because—I didn’t want them to say, hey, this isn’t working out, shoot the guy and go,” he said. “Seriously, I was trying to think a step ahead of them, but honestly, I just really did not know what to do, did not have time, and that transpires in about a minute, two minutes almost, maybe three—every second felt like an eternity.”
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Coleman also surrendered his wallet to the teens.
The boys did not get far with the minivan, striking several other vehicles before abandoning it a few blocks away from the church.
Coleman said that he would press charges, because he wants the assailants to be held accountable, as well as to prevent similar crimes from happening in the future.
On Monday (Jan. 30), police announced that they had taken one 13-year-old boy into custody. He has been remanded into juvenile detention.
Local faith leaders and community members have been alarmed by a number of violent crimes that have been committed by teens in the area over the last couple of weeks, including robberies, assaults, and carjackings, some of which have resulted in fatalities.
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Some are calling the trend a “public health crisis.”
