Authorities have arrested a man who they say was minutes away from carrying out a mass shooting at a church in Northern Virginia on Sunday morning.

Investigators said they were able to stop the potential massacre at Park Valley Church in Haymarket thanks to someone who saw troubling posts on Instagram and called police

Authorities arrested a man who they say was minutes away from carrying out a mass shooting at a church in Northern Virginia on Sunday morning.

Rui Jiang, 35, was taken into custody with a loaded gun and extra ammo at Park Valley Church in Haymarket. Authorities said he was on a mission to kill.

“This was a thwarted diabolical plot to kill churchgoers in Haymarket, Virginia … and local law enforcement stopped it,” Chief Kevin Davis of the Fairfax County Police Department said.

“Minutes. Minutes. The congregation was making their way into the church. He was in the vestibule of the church about to enter,” Davis said. “So, minutes or seconds away.”

  • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.worldEnglish
    33410·
    1 year ago

    “Quite frankly, we’ve just been thanking God. You know, God’s been so good to us, and he protected us,

    Never fails to amaze me how someone can completely disregard the hard work and sacrifice of other human beings and instead praise an imaginary skyguy.

      • tburkhol@lemmy.world
        312·
        1 year ago

        No, no: that’s the other skyguy. We’re like the kids in a bitter divorce, constantly bounced between a good parent and a bad parent, with no actual agency. Except to thank good skyguy, otherwise they might not protect us from bad skyguy next time.

        Skyguy whims sometimes feel arbitrary and capricious, but there’s divine or diabolical intent, which means it’s way better than being lost to the randomness of chaotic but determinate natural forces. How terrifying would the world be if stuff just happened for no reason?

    • Nepenthe@kbin.social
      57·
      1 year ago

      Since I feel the sudden urge to vent, I’ve never forgotten staying at this one homeless shelter several years ago.

      We found out much later after the place was shut down that they’d actually been receiving more than adequate donations the entire time, but the staff was just taking it all home with them and telling us that there was no food to give. They could do one or sometimes two meals, but never much, never more, and not dependably from day to. They had none.

      So obviously we believed them and since this was just…the position we were in, I was taking the money I was technically required by agreement to save for a place and using it to buy food for myself and anywhere from 1 to 4 of the other residents.

      One of them was Gabriel, who came in with the clothes on his back and a guitar. Gabriel was religious, but one of the painfully few who put the kindness part first and he was very sweet and tended to be walked on for it and to become depressed for being taken advantage of.

      When he took his guitar around looking for gigs, I went with him for moral support. When one of those was a church, I sat in with the flock even though the related trauma makes my skin crawl. When winter drew close, I bought him what I still think was a pretty snazzy jacket.

      I split a meal almost daily for months, because I’m not going to see anyone hungry when I can afford it, even though none of us could really afford it and doing so was imperiling my future. When he found out the fiance he doted on was banging his best friend while he himself was homeless, guess who was there to cry on immediately.

      I don’t regret any of those, to be very clear. I’d grudgingly do it again, because people matter more. But to think to check up on him some years after we parted and find him thanking god for looking after him during that time was a direct slap in the face. Over a decade later, it still stings.

      Of course it would be god. Looking after each other like sentient, suffering beings, that’s god’s doing, personally stepping in to work his mysterious ways. I only take the blame for the bad shit.

      • fiat_lux@kbin.social
        15·
        1 year ago

        As a total stranger, thankyou for looking after Gabriel, even after being so mistreated yourself. You clearly have a lot of compassion and kindness to offer the world, even if it’s not always respected by its recipients (although it sounds like Gabriel may not have had the skills or ability to fully comprehend it). I hope you’re in a much better place and able to extend your kindness even further and without neglecting your own needs in the process.

      • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        Wow. I can see how that would’ve stung. It just feels so irrational! And, there’s no need for them to drop their god schtick when acknowledging someone’s effort. He could’ve just as easily have said “I thank god for putting people who cared around me”

      • loutr@sh.itjust.works
        23·
        1 year ago

        Exactly, if God prevented this attack, it means he wanted the successful ones to take place. He really works in mysterious ways…

        • RogueBanana@lemmy.zip
          2·
          1 year ago

          Dramas get boring when nothing bad happens. Hes just making our lives a bit interesting and sometimes end it all.

        • Meowoem@sh.itjust.works
          33·
          1 year ago

          But also he would know for sure that heaven exists so the fact he saves some people should be seen as an insult, survive near death a few times? God really doesn’t want to hang out with you

    • AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world
      351·
      1 year ago

      Man, I know a woman who got COVID bad and got a double lung transplant. Not a word about any of her doctors or other care staff that kept her alive while on a ventilator for 6 month. Not even a mention once. But it was constant “look at the power of prayer” and “thank the good lord for my recovery” and shit like that.

      • CaptFeather@lemm.ee
        171·
        1 year ago

        Which is hilarious considering how many “good Christians” died for refusing the vaccine. Confirmation bias in action!

      • Saneless@lemmy.world
        17·
        1 year ago

        Well, if he’s consistent with his behavior in the Bible, it’s not that he failed to protect her. He killed her himself

        • Delusional@lemmy.world
          7·
          1 year ago

          And if all those people were shot up, you can be damn sure they wouldn’t be saying it’s thanks to God. Mass of idiots.

    • Tedesche@lemmy.worldEnglish
      331·
      1 year ago

      It’s a mistake to dismiss religious people as stupid, but they really make it hard not to sometimes.

    • Furbag@lemmy.world
      271·
      1 year ago

      God, when he fails to prevent all the other mass shootings that happened in places of worship:

      “Lol that was part of my plan, too.”

    • Nougat@kbin.social
      234·
      1 year ago

      Cops should have just said, “Oh, it’s at a church? God’s got it handled,” and went back to speed traps.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      163·
      1 year ago

      I mean, it is a church. I think it’s stupid, but it’s not like it’s a car dealership. What do you think they’re going to say?

    • be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social
      79·
      1 year ago

      Police don’t have a particularly good track record at prevention; they are rather famous for showing up after the crime has happened. I think giving crediting a higher power for the miracle that they proactively stopped a shooter before the shooting started kinda fits.

      I also think it’s reasonable that folks who believe in a deity that theoretically protects them would thank that deity when they feel protected. I somehow doubt the cops on scene lacked for any expression of thanks because everyone was too busy praying.

    • cricket97@lemmy.world
      14·
      1 year ago

      They did thank everyone involved, the news didn’t report on it. Hope you feel stupid for saying that.