Greater Beallwood Baptist beefs up security after wanted man killed outside church

When members of Greater Beallwood Baptist Church gathered Tuesday night for a routine choir rehearsal, they had no idea they would be just yards away from the city’s latest homicide.

The minister of music called the Rev. Adrian Chester around 9 p.m. to alert him that there was a heavy police and ambulance presence at the intersection of Sherwood Avenue and 44th Street, where the church is located.

Columbus police later reported that a 19-year-old man wanted for questioning in a deadly Sept. 3 shooting on Ewart Avenue was killed at the intersection.

Kuamane “Lil Q” Ford had warrants for armed robbery, aggravated assault and robbery charges at the time of his death. It was unclear Wednesday if the charges were related to the Sept. 3 drive-by shooting that left 19-year-old Takelia Johnson dead.

“I just assumed it was one of our elderly parishioners who probably fell or was on the way to the hospital for some reason,” said Chester, reflecting on his initial reaction to the call. “But to see the news reports later on that night that it was an actual murder of a 19-year-old, it really struck us by surprise.”

So on Wednesday afternoon Chester sent a statement to 400 people on his email list in an effort to calm anxiety.

“... As you can imagine, my phone has been flooded with messages and calls expressing concern,” the statement read in part. “This incident is coupled with the shooting that occurred in Sutherland Springs, Texas this past Sunday. I praise God for the reports of safety (at Greater Beallwood Baptist), but I remain prayerful for the plight of our community, city, state, nation, and world.

“... I am aware that with this being so close to home, emotions are high and there may be a feeling of despair,” Chester continued. “My prayer is that we do not give room for Satan to distract us from our God given mission to impact the world!”

He said the congregation would continue to pray for the family of the murder victim.

To address security concerns, Chester said the congregation would implement a variety of security measures, to include:

▪ Information sessions on how to respond to an active shooter that enters the church

▪ Formation of a structured security ministry for Sunday mornings and whenever the church is being utilized

▪ Car escorts for evening activities

▪ Better lighting in parking areas

Later, in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Chester said the Tuesday night incident was a wake-up call for the congregation.

“I’m not saying that we’ve not been concerned about what’s going on in our community,” he said, “but it’s right here at our front steps.

“What we’re doing as a church is making sure that our congregation is aware of what’s going on around us, not only here at the church, but also when they come for different activities, to let them know that this is a safe place,” he said. “… People are on edge because of the randomness of these acts. You never know when or where and if you can be caught in the crossfire. And my fear is that these type of activities will just send a lot of people over the edge, or keep people constantly on edge, afraid to come out of their homes, afraid to do even the basic activities of living.”

He said the last shooting near the church prior to Tuesday’s incident occurred about a year ago when Ronald Davis was fatally shot in the 4300 block of 17th Avenue. That incident occurred Nov. 15, 2016.

Chester said he attended the funeral, even though the victim had no connection to the church.

On Tuesday, Ford was found suffering from a gunshot wound around 8 p.m. at the intersection of Sherwood Avenue and 44th Street. He was dead when officers arrived on the scene, Lt. Greg Touchberry said in a news release.

The Muscogee County Coroner’s Office marks Ford’s death as the 36th homicide in Columbus this year, while police lists it as the 29th. The coroner’s office does not differentiate between a homicide that police consider a murder and one it categorizes as manslaughter or a justifiable shooting.

Chester said the church started beefing up security after the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C. That incident left nine people dead. The victims included the senior pastor and a state senator.

Chester said Marshal Greg Countryman has provided security training for the church, and he has contacted him to do drills for what the congregation should do in the case of an active shooter. He said the congregation also is blessed to have a police officer in church leadership.

“He has trained others on how to monitor security, and periodically throughout worship he walks the building and checks spaces where people could be hiding out and he checks the parking lot,” Chester said. “It’s loosely been structured through him and a team, but I sense that we will need more people trained now, just based upon everything going on in the world.”

Chester said crime is a problem in the city, but he doesn’t think it has reached the point of hopelessness. He said Greater Beallwood has intensified its outreach to young people in the community, trying to give them “a sense of the value of human life and also the value of being productive people in our society.”

“There is a remedy to this particular problem of gang violence,” he said. “And that is one, us being examples to young people and trying to redirect them from a life of crime, organized or unorganized gang activities.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Greater Beallwood Baptist beefs up security after wanted man killed outside church."