9 years ago tonight, I dashed off the anchor desk and rushed as fast as I could to Wedgewood Baptist Church in southwest Fort Worth. A crime of unspeakable magnitude had taken place. 47 year old Larry Gene Ashbrook walked into a prayer meeting, started cussing and then pulled out a gun and started shooting.
When it was all over, Ashbrook had killed 7 people that night. I spent that evening in the street with a camera and microphone broadcasting live on NBC-5, trying to wring information out of Ralph Mendoza, who would later become Fort Worth police chief. It was a tough night for everybody.
Things got a lot tougher, and more emotional, when deep into the night came one of the most ugly questions I think I have ever heard pass the lips of another reporter. Pastor Al Meredith had come out, struggling with the pain and sorrow of the mass murder in his church, but he graciously stood for our questions. Then, suddenly, these words came blurting from a reporter behind me (whom I will not name); “Pastor Meredith, where was God tonight?”
My heart sank, my mind raced to figure out how I would answer that question. Pastor Meredith could have lashed out, indignant about the carelessness of that question. Instead, he stood like a rock, tears flowing down his face, and said “he (God) was in the church with those killed tonight, and he is with us right now.”
Pastor Meredith strengthened the faith of many people that night. He could not bring back those young lives snuffed out by Larry Gene Ashbrook, but he helped keep faith alive in the hearts of many. Here is his version of that night and his sermon of hope after the tragedy.
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