Pastor, Back at Church After Being Shot, Credits Angel for Saving Life
A week after being shot at close range in the back of the head, the Rev. William Boss, 52, returned to his congregants at the Greater Faith Christian Center Church in Lakeland, Fla., Sunday to celebrate an "angelic intercession" for saving his life.
Boss wore a large bandage covering a wound in the back of the head left by a .32 caliber gun, which was allegedly fired by Jeremiah Fogle, 57, on September 18, according to ABC Action News.
According to witnesses, Boss was kneeling in prayer when Fogle burst into the church and allegedly shot him, along with associate minister, the Rev. Carl Stewart, 65.
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Minister Derrick Foster described a scene of pandemonium as congregants screamed and bolted for the exit of the church following the shooting of Boss.
Foster attempted to distract the gunman, who had then focused his attention on Stewart. The minister quickly grabbing Fogel and disarmed him.
Fogle first shot and killed his wife Theresa Fogle, 56, before walking a block to the church to shoot Boss and Stewart, according to investigators.
Boss, who admitted to still being in agony, stunned onlookers when he appeared in church only a week later, despite reports that he might not have recovered.
He credited a miracle for the reason he was still alive.
"Ain't no doubt heaven opened up; It was some angels that were faster than a bullet," he said.
According to Foster, most people would die after being shot in the back of the head, but he spoke of the miracle, which Boss described as an "angel who appeared before him to take him by the hand and lead him from the church."
This miraculous intercession, said Foster, saved Boss' life.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Fogel has a violent past.
In 1986, he confessed to the killing of his then-wife, Diane Fogel, in their Avon Park home. He was charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors reduced it to manslaughter. He took a plea agreement of ten years of probation with no prison time.
Stewart remains in the Lakeland Regional Medical Center intensive-care unit.
According to investigators, Fogle once served as a deacon at Greater Faith Christian Center Church.
