Man who pointed gun at pastor during service, murdered cousin sentenced

By Raquel Ciampi

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    ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — The man who pointed a gun at a pastor in Allegheny County after murdering a relative will spend years behind bars.

Bernard Polite has been sentenced for the attempted murder of Pastor Glenn Germany during a service in North Braddock, as well as the murder of his cousin.

In May 2024, a service at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church was interrupted when Polite jumped in front of Germany with a gun in an apparent attempt to shoot him.

The moment was captured on the church’s livestream.

When the gun jammed, church members quickly jumped into action as Germany took cover. One man even jumped to tackle the gunman. Eventually, he was able to remove the gun from the man’s hands.

According to the criminal complaint, Polite confessed to police that he tried to shoot Germany because “God told him to do it,” and that he wanted to go to jail to clear his mind.

A body was then found in Polite’s home in the 500 block of Stokes Avenue. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Derek Polite, 56, of North Braddock, Bernard Polite’s cousin.

Bernard Polite has been sentenced to five to 20 years in prison for the attempted murder of Germany and 15 to 40 years for the murder of his cousin.

After Polite’s hearing, Germany revealed a conversation the two had inside the Allegheny County Jail during Germany’s visit.

He said Polite would do it again if he could.

“He told me that he wanted to kill me, and if he had the opportunity, he would still kill me again,” Germany said. “It wasn’t me personally. It was because of the position that I hold as a pastor, he did not like priests, so he felt that he had to rid the world of priests.”

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