Police in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb with a population of 7,000, arrested 38-year-old white male Jeffrey Harris for pointing a shotgun at two women in the street after he was thwarted from entering a nearby Black church, the Atlanta Black Star reports.
Harris tried to enter Greater Dominion Church on Sunday morning but was denied permission at the door. “There was a white male, camo vest, red hat, and white t-shirt walking with a possible long gun down [a crowded street],” Ambridge Police Chief John DeLuca said. Once detained, police found he was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and some meth.
Statements Harris made to police indicated he intended to carry out a hate crime, and that he planned a long standoff with police at his home. Police who searched his home found barricades and obstacles throughout the house; something slippery had been spread on the front porch. Once he sobered up, Harris denied wanting to carry out a hate crime or ambush police.