Missouri teen who claimed pastor pointed a gun at him is now charged with making terroristic threats
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Prosecutors filed charges Friday against a local teen who allegedly made terroristic threats against a south Kansas City church. They also charged the teen with fourth-degree assault and first-degree trespassing, according to WDAF.
WDAF first shared the story in March after the teen said the pastor pointed a gun at him. At that time, Pastor Frank Ross told reporters 17-year-old Quinton Graham visited Apostolic Revival Church and made "terroristic threats against his congregation." That teen said the pastor threatened his life with a gun.
"I never disrespected him nor was I disruptive when I was at that church," Quinton Graham previously told WDAF.
Graham's mom, Jovanna, supported her son's statement and said, "My son was not disrespectful at any time, and he was not refusing to leave that church."
Pastor Ross disagreed and said, "The things that he said - I have never in my ministry heard anyone defame God, defame the ministry and defame the church like he did."
Quinton Graham
During the March interview with Quinton Graham, he said he visited the church with his mom and younger sisters for "Teen Night."
"Yeah, I was having a good time in the beginning," Graham said.
However, Graham admitted he made a comment while Ross was preaching that set off a firestorm at the small church that's been around for 29 years.
"All I did is say, 'We are sheep and not goats,' and that hurt him, I guess. I think as a preacher he should have handled it differently," Graham said. "Just by me saying we are sheep and not goats made him react the way he did."
The teenager's remark comes from a scripture in the Bible.
However, Ross had a different account.
"He was laughing. He was jeering. He was openly talking to his sister. He spoke out loud when I asked him to be quiet," Ross said.
Ross said when Graham refused to be silent, he asked several of his ushers to remove the teen from the church. Graham said he tried to walk out on his own, but then at least 10 men and teenagers grabbed him.
"They grabbed me, grabbed my arm, grabbed my shirt. When one of those grown men twisted my arm, I swung on him, and things really got crazy," he said.
Pastor Frank Ross
"None of our men assailed him, but this young man did assault our ushers. He hit a male usher three times, one time in the face full on and two times in the head," Ross said.
When the scuffle spilled outside and into the church's parking lot, Graham said the 36-year-old pastor pointed a gun at his forehead and threatened to shoot him.
"Yes, he threatened my life. He said, 'I will kill you,' and I said, 'Do it.' And after that, that's when I just really started going off," the teen said.
"He was belligerent. He was very disruptive. He threatened the church, and everybody in it," Ross said.
In March, reporters asked Ross if he pulled a gun on the teen.
"I will not comment to that. I will say we did try to de-escalate the situation, and it got out of control to the point we were uncomfortable. If there's anything I regret is that I could not help this young man," Ross said.