The Jamaica Evangelical Alliance has condemned the fatal shooting of a woman at a church in western Jamaica, while the pastor of the congregation where the attack occurred said the church would continue holding services and would not employ private security guards in response.
Cora Thompson, 38, was shot last Wednesday at the compound of the New Testament Church of God on Water Lane in St. James, according to reporting by the Jamaica Gleaner. Thompson, a member of the church, was reportedly selling books in the churchyard during a fasting and prayer service when a masked gunman opened fire before fleeing in a black Toyota Voxy.
She was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
In a statement cited by the Jamaica Gleaner, the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance urged the suspect to surrender to authorities.
“We strongly urge him to turn himself in to the nearest police station and submit to the rule of law,” the organization said. “Beyond earthly justice, there is a higher accountability that no individual can escape.”
Senior Superintendent of Police Eron Samuels, commanding officer for the St. James Police Division, told the Jamaica Gleaner that investigators are actively pursuing leads in the case.
The shooting has prompted discussion among church leaders in Jamaica about security at places of worship.
According to IRIE FM, Bishop Ruel Robinson, pastor of the Montego Bay congregation where the shooting occurred, said during Sunday’s service that the church would not hire security personnel following the attack. His remarks came after Rev. Newton Dixon, general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches, suggested that churches able to afford it should consider using security guards.
Robinson said the congregation would continue to rely on prayer and maintain its regular activities, including weekly fasting services.
“The doors of the church will never close,” Robinson said during his sermon. “Fasting full speed ahead Wednesday.”
He told congregants that the church would continue preaching, praying and ministering despite the shooting.
“This will not shut us up, but give us an opportunity to declare God’s power some more,” he said.
Robinson also described the attack as an assault on the wider church community and said the perpetrators had shown disrespect toward God, according to IRIE FM.
During the sermon, he urged members to respond peacefully rather than retaliate.
“We will not fight with our mouth. We will not fight with our hands,” Robinson said. “All we have to do, just pray.”
The Jamaica Evangelical Alliance said the killing reflected what it described as a broader erosion of respect for life and for places traditionally viewed as sanctuaries.
“This tragic incident reflects the desperate and deteriorating state of our society and highlights the urgent need for national reflection and spiritual renewal,” the alliance said in the statement published by the Jamaica Gleaner.
The organization also expressed condolences to Thompson’s family.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Thompson’s killing was the second fatal shooting of a woman at a church in western Jamaica in recent years. In 2021, Andrea Lowe Garwood was shot and killed by gunmen at a church in Falmouth, Trelawny.
