Teenager arrested in connection with Memphis pastor’s shooting

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, Could 29, 2024

A teen who allegedly drove a getaway automotive from Zionfield Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, in February after Pastor Clemmie Livingston Jr. was shot within the face by yet-to-be-identified carjackers has been arrested in reference to the taking pictures.

R’Shunio Greer, 18, has been charged with aggravated theft and theft of property, in line with WREG. He’s additionally going through plenty of gun possession expenses.

Courtroom paperwork cited by the information outlet mentioned Greer was tied to Livingston’s taking pictures after investigators reportedly discovered footage of Greer in a automotive that was stolen from Livingston’s church the day the pastor was shot. Greer allegedly admitted to driving away from the scene of the taking pictures.

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For the taking pictures case, Greer’s bond has been set at $250,000. With further bond quantities for different circumstances, Greer is going through a complete bond quantity of $390,500.

Livingston was shot simply after 9 a.m. on Feb. 25 as he got here out of his church earlier than the beginning of his Sunday morning service. He not too long ago testified in regards to the ordeal throughout his first look within the pulpit because the taking pictures in his Easter Sunday message.

“Glad to be here to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I remember the words of Peter. … He said, ‘Lord, it’s good to be here.’ And sometimes we take being here for granted, but it’s good to be here,” the 71-year-old Livingston mentioned after directing his congregants to Matthew 28:5-6.

Even after being a preacher for nearly 40 years, he mentioned he must hold studying Scripture to remind himself of how positive God’s guarantees are.

“Say what you will. I don’t care what you’re going through. You can always stand on the Word of God. His Word is everlasting all the way to everlasting,” he mentioned.

Though he didn’t plan to debate the taking pictures that day, Livingston used the expertise to encourage Christians not to surrender on their religion.

“You’ve got to hold on. You’ve got to hold on. A few weeks ago, my faith was tested. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted,” he mentioned.

“Just a few weeks ago, I had to hold on to the faith when I was struck by a stray bullet. Don’t know where it came from. I just saw myself going down on my knees. I said I wasn’t going to talk about this … because it’s not easy to talk about,” he continued.

“But I was struck by a stray bullet that put me down on my knees. I didn’t know what was going on. All I could feel was blood coming from every direction. All I could remember was Troy Franklin and my daughter, Tracy, holding my head,” he recalled. “My daughter wouldn’t let me shut my eyes. And I remember Sister Franklin saying, ‘Hold on.'”

He mentioned he saved telling himself that he could be useless in a couple of minutes.

“‘You can’t keep bleeding the way you are and not die,'” he recalled telling himself.

God, nevertheless, had one other message for him.

“When I was down on my knees, let me tell you what He said. He said to me, ‘Stop trying to die and start back living.’ He said to me, ‘Not yet, not yet,'” Livingston declared to shouts of reward from the congregants. “When you’re rooted in the Lord, you can feel His presence. I felt the presence of the Lord.”