Church volunteers praised following shootout at Monroe Church

MONROE, Ga. - Senior Pastor David Smith is praising church volunteers who stepped in during a gun battle between two armed teens at Monroe Church of God in Walton County Monday night. "They started scuffling a little bit inside came outside when they came outside it escalated one of them pulled a gun began to shoot the other one had a pistol he pulled his gun and they exchanged fire."

The Open Gym Ministry program was underway at the Monroe Church when two teens who showed up to play basketball for the first time, got into a heated altercation.  They then pulled guns on each other out in the parking lot and started shooting. "The leader of our open gym stood between them, Derek Irvin, he actually stood between them and because of some relationship with the other kids brought the situation down, diffused it,” said Pastor Smith.

Miraculously no one was hurt. The church started the ministry about three years ago, reaching local youth through the popular ministry. Monroe Public Safety Director Chief Keith Glass calls this an isolated incident, but says his department will now partner with the church, officers interacting with the teens during the weekly program. "Not come by as in I'm  watching you, but come by and shoot some hoops with them ,get to know the kids because that's so important."

The pastor is relieved no one was hurt, and doesn't want what happened here Monday night to reflect poorly on the dozens of teens who benefit from the program. "The positive is we've made a positive impact on the lives of dozens of kids who weren't on the street last night, who weren't shooting up each other but they were inside playing basketball."

The gunmen fled after the shooting.  Chief Glass said an arrest is imminent.