One week after shooting, parishioners focus on forgiveness


7 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OGDEN — One week after a man allegedly shot his father-in-law during a Catholic Mass, parishioners of the were told to forgive.

Charles "Ricky" Jennings, 35, is accused of entering the St. James the Just Catholic Church at 495 N. Harrison Blvd. during mass and shooting his father-in-law, Jim Evans, in the head before leaving without a word. Parishioners said they ducked down to the floor, many calling 911.

Jennings was arrested about 3 ½ hours after the shooting occurred. He was charged Friday with attempted murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and possession of a firearm by restricted person.

Evans remained in the hospital Friday, but was expected to make a full recovery.

Police had not released information regarding a motive, but said there had been domestic violence incidents reported regarding Jennings and his wife and her family.

Sunday, under the security of Ogden police, Rev. Erik J. Richtsteig delivered a homily about forgiveness and love. Church members said he urged them to continue looking for goodness.

"The biggest focus is on the importance of forgiveness and not letting evil interfere or run our lives," said parishioner Cara Winther. "(That) we are all capable of doing something wrong, and forgiveness is what Christ expects of us. The important thing is to love our neighbors as ourselves and to not be fearful, and to move on, and to know that God will watch out for us."

Maria Gordon said the mass ran normally, but that her attention was directed to "the good things that happened," and people were unafraid at Sunday's service.

"I can see that the Lord is working with us; He wants to forgive everybody," she said. "We think that good things will come."

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Celeste Tholen Rosenlof

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast