Carnegie Hero Clarence McCallister was honored at a recent Hero Fund board meeting in downtown Pittsburgh.
Hero Fund staff and board members on Dec. 10 honored McCallister with a presentation of the Carnegie Medal after he subdued a gunman that entered the Jesus’ Dwelling Place church in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, on May 5. North Braddock is a small community, about 11 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The gunman entered the church, and after sitting quietly in the front row for several minutes, he calmly approached the pulpit and pointed a handgun at pastor Glenn Germany as he was preaching. He pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed, giving McCallister, who was charged with recording the church service for its Facebook livestream, time to move from around the camera, leap over a railing at the front of the church, bring the gunman to the floor, and ultimately disarm him. He and others then held him to the floor for 20 minutes until police arrived.
On Tuesday, McCallister and his wife, Mary; his sisters, Cynthia McCallister and Mae Carr, along with her husband, Edgar; church senior pastor Gary Germany; and Glenn Germany and his wife, Cynthia, took a tour of the Hero Fund office to see its 120-year history and meet staff, including Case Investigator Missy McLaughlin, who investigated McCallister’s case.
They then headed to the Duquesne Club for lunch and the presentation, which was held at the top of the Hero Fund’s final board meeting for 2024.
Hero Fund President Eric Zahren introduced the group.
“I got the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with them this morning and this afternoon, and I feel like I’m a slightly better person after that time spent together,” he said.
Zahren said the fact that McCallister was recording at the time of the incident gave him a unique view of the situation.
“The same viewfinder ultimately showed both darkness and light; peril and selflessness; despair and hope; the worst and the best of us – Mr. McCallister did not remain a spectator, but through selfless and heroic action became the lead actor and sole and final editor of both the video and the outcome of the stark reality it captured. We all have the power to do the same,” he said.
McCallister thanked everyone for honoring him. If he was faced with the same situation again, he said, he would do it again.
“It would be an honor,” he said.