Police say that a volunteer staff member at Creflo Dollar's World Changers Church International was leading a prayer service for a group of about 20 in the chapel Wednesday morning when he was fatally shot by a gunman. The volunteer has not been identified, but police say he was 39 years old.
From the Associated Press (via Huffington Post):
The shots were fired just before 10 a.m. at the chapel on the campus of World Changers Church International, which says it has 30,000 followers in College Park, a suburb south of Atlanta.
The church's prominent founder and leader, the Rev. Creflo Dollar, was not at the church at the time of the shooting, Fulton County Police Cpl. Kay Lester said.
Authorities identified the suspect as Floyd Palmer, a 52-year-old former facilities maintenance employee at the church. Lester said Palmer, who should be considered armed and dangerous, had resigned from his job at the church in August.
About 20 to 25 people were gathered in the chapel Wednesday morning, when authorities say the gunman walked in and began shooting. No other people were wounded in the shooting and the gunman fled in a black Subaru station wagon with tinted windows.
"He left as calmly as he came," Lester said.
Authorities were working to determine if the suspect and the victim knew each other. Investigators were interviewing witnesses inside the church.
Dollar made national news in June when he was arrested and charged with simple battery and cruelty to children after a confrontation with his teenage daughter.
Read more at the Huffington Post.
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Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root.