A pastor in Detroit is being called a hero after successfully de-escalating a harrowing situation when a crazed man pulled a gun in the middle of a funeral and pointed it at the minister.
The alarming situation even ended with 10 people coming to faith in Jesus.
Darthanian Nichols, pastor of Breaking Chains Outreach Ministries, was officiating a funeral service in late March for a teenager who reportedly died by gun violence when a man entered the New McFall Brothers Funeral Home at around 11 a.m. and began shouting obscenities before pulling out a firearm.
“If I’m being honest,” Nichols, a licensed social worker, wrote in a Facebook post, “I braced myself. I just knew I was going to be shot.”
Reflecting back on the ordeal, the preacher said God gave him “peace in the middle of panic.”
“While I was officiating a funeral service,” he wrote, “I asked the room to clear the floor just in case of an emergency, just trying to keep everyone safe. In that moment, a man began yelling obscenities, pulled out a gun, and pointed it toward me, threatening to hurt me if I didn’t stop speaking.”
The room, he reflected, “went into chaos.” But he stayed calm — supernaturally calm.
“I grabbed the microphone and calmly instructed everyone to leave in an orderly way,” he wrote. “I made sure my wife and kids were removed to safety. And even in that moment, as a trained clinician, I recognized this wasn’t just anger this was grief speaking loudly. So I began to pray!!!”
Police confirmed Monday no shots were fired, according to WJBK-TV.
After Nichols de-escalated the situation and police arrived on the scene, one man was taken into custody. Soon thereafter, four others were arrested for various weapons offenses.
Detroit Police Department Capt. John Stewart credited the pastor for his calm handling of the situation, calling Nichols “a hero.”
Nichols, though, is crediting God.
“He gave me wisdom when I needed it, peace when I shouldn’t have had it, clarity when everything was chaotic, and courage when fear was present,” he wrote. “The Bible says: ‘And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ Today, that wasn’t for money or provision, [b]ut for strength, discernment, and grace under pressure.”
And after everything was done, Nichols revealed he was able to lead 10 people to salvation.
“And even after all of that, God still moved,” he wrote. “I was still able to minister to the family and the young people… and 10 people gave their lives to Christ. That’s the kind of God we serve.”
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