Knife Wielding Suspect Shot by Police Outside Hickory Church
What a police foot pursuit near a church teaches about early lockdowns, disciplined security, and protecting the congregation.
On the morning of February 8, 2026, officers with the Hickory Police Department were involved in a rapidly evolving incident that moved from a routine patrol contact into a foot pursuit and officer involved shooting near a church as congregants were arriving for service.
The incident began outside a nearby restaurant when a 35 year old man approached an officer while holding a knife. Officers issued commands for the man to drop the weapon. He refused and instead moved toward officers in an aggressive manner. As additional officers arrived, commands continued, but the suspect fled on foot.
Rather than running away from populated areas, the suspect ran toward St. Luke’s United Methodist Church as people were beginning to arrive for Sunday service. This is a pattern seen repeatedly in real world incidents. When people are fleeing danger, whether they are victims or offenders, they often move toward places they perceive as safe, occupied, or offering refuge. Churches fall squarely into that category.
Officers pursued the suspect across church property. A police K9 was deployed during the pursuit and was reportedly stabbed by the suspect. As the pursuit continued near 16th Avenue Northwest, one officer fell to the ground. The suspect turned back toward officers with the knife still in hand. Officers fired, striking the suspect.
The suspect survived and was transported to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. No officers were injured. As is standard, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent review, and the officers involved were placed on administrative leave.
From a church security standpoint, the most important detail in this incident is not the shooting itself. It is the fact that an armed suspect being actively pursued by police moved directly toward a church during arrival time.
What This Incident Teaches Churches
People Run Toward Churches When Chaos Hits
This incident reinforces a reality churches must accept. When danger erupts nearby, people run toward churches. Sometimes that person is innocent. Sometimes they are not. Sometimes they are armed. Sometimes they are mentally unstable or under the influence.
Security teams cannot afford to assume that someone approaching during a police pursuit is seeking help in a harmless way. Intent is unknown until proven otherwise.
That reality alone justifies early, decisive action.
Immediate Lockdown Is the Correct First Move
When police are visibly chasing someone near your church, the correct response is immediate lockdown.
Get everyone inside.
Secure and lock doors.
Stop arrivals until the situation is clear.
This is not overreaction. It is basic risk management.
Security personnel may remain outside only if it can be done safely to shepherd stragglers inside. Even then, they must stay well clear of police movement, never insert themselves into the pursuit, and never place themselves in potential lines of fire.
Your job is not to assist police. Your job is to protect your people and keep them out of harm’s way.
Stay Out of the Fight, Stay Out of the Lines of Fire
One of the most dangerous mistakes churches make is assuming their armed security volunteers should move toward the action. In a police pursuit or officer involved shooting, that instinct gets people hurt or killed.
Church security should never:
Attempt to detain a fleeing suspect being pursued by police
Stand between officers and a suspect
Move toward gunfire to “see what’s happening”
Instead, your focus should be inward. Move people away from doors, windows, and exterior walls. Keep children and vulnerable populations deep inside the building. Monitor the situation from protected positions and adjust as the pursuit evolves.
This incident moved quickly, crossed multiple properties, and changed direction. That is normal in foot pursuits. Security plans must allow for flexibility and constant reassessment.
Adjust as the Situation Evolves
A pursuit near your church may last seconds or several minutes. It may move closer or farther away. Security leaders must continually reassess.
If officers move past your building, keep the lockdown in place until you have confirmation the threat has cleared. If police activity intensifies nearby, move people farther inside. If shots are fired, assume the threat is still active until law enforcement confirms otherwise.
Order and calm do not happen by accident. They happen because someone is thinking clearly while everyone else is reacting emotionally.
Biblical Perspective: Watchmen, Responsibility, and Trust
Scripture does not support the idea that leaders should ignore visible danger and hope for the best. It also does not support reckless action or misplaced confidence in force. It calls for watchfulness, discernment, and obedience.
The Watchman’s Responsibility
Ezekiel 33:6 (ESV)
“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”
God is clear here. When danger is visible, silence is not neutral. Failure to act is failure of responsibility.
A church security team functions as a modern watchman. When police are chasing an armed suspect toward your property, that is the sword coming. Locking doors, moving people to safety, and controlling access is the equivalent of blowing the trumpet.
Doing nothing is not faith. It is negligence.
Trusting God Without Abandoning Duty
Psalm 127:1 (ESV)
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
This verse is often misunderstood.
It does not say the watchman should go home.
It does not say vigilance is pointless.
It does not say preparation reflects a lack of trust.
It reminds us that God is sovereign, but watchmen are still expected to stay awake.
Security teams lock doors, monitor threats, and protect people while trusting God with outcomes they cannot control. Both are required. One does not replace the other.
Final Thoughts for Churches
When police activity appears near your church, especially a foot pursuit involving a weapon, decisive action saves lives. Move people inside. Secure the building. Stay out of police operations. Adjust as the situation changes.
Churches should be places of refuge, but refuge does not mean vulnerability. Scripture supports preparedness, responsibility, and sober leadership in the face of danger.
The goal is simple. Protect the congregation so they can worship in peace, even when the world outside is not peaceful.
Hopefully the dog is fine
This is about 30 minutes from my home. Hickory is like any other city, it has plenty of good but it has its share of bad neighborhoods. Some areas aren’t worth the risk.