A South Carolina elderly lady has called on the authorities to identify her grandchildren as church vandalism suspects. The grandmother called the cops when she recognized the eight and nine year old children on the news and turned the little kids over to the police. Some think it's a rather bold move that would teach the little ones a lesson.
According to WACH-TV, the Columbia Police Department officials caught two boys on the security cameras of the church where the vandalism occurred. Photos showed that the church vandalism suspects had smashed glass and scattered books and resources inside Bell Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina.
The church vandalism took place in December and January, which damage had extended from the sanctuary to the kitchen and other rooms throughout the church. Faithwire reported that parishioners felt "heartbreak and confusion" upon seeing the damage caused by the two children, with one more believed to have contributed to the mess, investigators said.
Bell Memorial Baptist was supposedly preparing for its first in-person services since the pandemic in December when the church vandalism occurred, shocking everyone.
"This right here threw us for a loop," the church's First Lady Johnnie Mae Butler said in a conversation with WACH-TV before the church vandalism suspects were identified. "Just to think someone would come in and do this to God's house - they don't know the emotional toll that this has taken."
Two boys were shown in at least one captured image from the church surveillance system. One of the children brandished a BB gun, which caused much damage. A third child, aged 10 years old was allegedly also involved in the church vandalism case.
Butler said that the occurrence was an "emotional" one for them but that they have already forgiven the church vandalism suspects even before the church leaders had any idea of who they may be.
Local authorities recommended that the children participate in a clean-up day at the church on March 5. The punishment was agreed upon by their families and the church.
The news of the church vandalism suspects being identified by their own grandmother comes after a woman made headlines last week after she identified her son as the suspect in a Chicago train robbery.
A mom had identified her 18 year old son, who is a sophomore student at Loyola University as the suspect in the Chicago train robbery. Surveillance camera footage showed the suspect Zion Brown glancing at the camera around the time that he stole about $100 in cash at gunpoint at the Metra train conductor.
When Brown's mother saw the photo on the news, she dragged him to the authorities and turned him in.
The police initially asked for the help of the public to find the suspect in the Chicago train robbery. Brown was seen in two surveillance photos at the Van Buren Street Station in downtown Chicago. Brown had used a BB gun in the hold up of the conductor and then fled on foot. Brown is set for a court appearance on March 4.
