When an armed Muslim man walked into the Corinth Missionary Baptist Church in Bullard Texas, the church’s Pastor could immediately sense that something was wrong.
“Every hair on my neck just stood up,” said Reverend John D. Johnson, III. “It was almost like you could feel the presence of negative energy.”
Rasheed Abdul Aziz, who is based in Jacksonville, TX, came to the church around 2 p.m. Sunday and spoke to a deacon who lingered outside of the church.
"He was wearing camouflage, he had a tactical vest on, I noticed he had on what appeared to be a military-issued helmet that covered the ears," Rev. Johnson continued. "He came in and he told that man at our church that he needed to have a prayer.”
Aziz was led into the church conference room by the deacon and, before he could be fully introduce Aziz to Rev. Johnson, Aziz launched a rant at the reverend, who held his hand out in greeting.
Aziz claimed to be “a man of Islam” and was observably agitated, a layer of sweat on his skin and a barely contained fire in his eyes.
"I noticed immediately that he was covered in sweat, he was enraged, his eyes were bugged and he was spitting as he was talking," Rev. Johnson recalled. "He started to talk about that he had demons following him. He tried to get me to talk to President Obama on the phone, he said Obama knew what he was doing and that he knew about this assignment.”
Aziz gave them his full name and began telling them that Allah had authorized him to slay infidels. He argued that it would be okay for him to take the lives of any Christian or Jew who did not share his belief in Islam.
Fortunately, Rev. Johnson was ready for the situation. He recognized Aziz was becoming increasingly volatile with each passing second, prompting Johnson's training as a former parole officer kicked in. He had training in verbal de-escalation, crisis prevention and experience dealing with mentally ill offenders.
“Immediately, just like clockwork, it kicked in,” the Rev. said of his training.
Johnson sat Aziz down and asked him to calm himself. He put himself between Aziz and the door while offering the man a cold drink or a prayer.
“I never gave him the power of feeling that he was in control, that I was frightened,” Johnson said. “I just continued to engage, but I was very cautious not to raise my voice or make any quick moves.”
He told Aziz that would take care of him, but that he first needed to situate his children - an excuse to step out into the hall and warn his wife with a whisper: “We got a problem. Get everybody out of the church.”
"Once we had all of our people out, I decided to go ahead and get in the car, too," he said. "Let's vacate the premises and just leave him where he was, basically surrender the church there for him.”
“We can get another church,” he told his wife. “We can get more walls, but we cannot get new people.”
The police were called and Aziz left the premises, flashing what appeared to be a peace sign with his hand as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
Johnson said that his congregation is concerned yet very grateful.
“It is a community of great pride and great strength, but unbelievable compassion,” said Johnson, who is entering his sixth year as pastor. “If any place can handle this and grow from it and be an example to others, it certainly is our church.”
In the end, Johnson credits God for bringing the tense situation to a peaceful end peacefully. According to KETK, Aziz had been in and out of jail for marijuana possession, unlawful carrying of a weapon, and aggravated robbery. He had previously been charged with quadruple-capital murder, but the charge was dismissed for lack of evidence.
“I just think it’s by the grace and mercy of God that we are not on the other side of history, the other side of tragedy.”