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Bullet shot into West Charlotte church during New Year's Eve service

New Bethel Church of God in Christ on Little Rock Road was holding its annual New Year’s Eve service with more than 400 people inside.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating after a shot was fired into a West Charlotte church full of people on New Year’s Eve. 

New Bethel Church of God in Christ on Little Rock Road was holding its annual New Year’s Eve service with more than 400 people inside.

Joyce Martin, an administrator for the church, said just before midnight the pastor was calling for church members to focus on God as they heard the noise and there was a commotion. 

After the service, a bullet was found in the choir loft, Martin said. A ceiling tile had a hole in it where the bullet came through, and there was debris on the ground at the front of the church near where the pastor had been standing. 

"It came down through our metal roof, through the insulation, into the dropped ceiling, and landed where a person could have been,” Martin said. “It could have been a very, very tragic situation."

Richard Stewart, chairman of the deacon board, said he was sitting on the front row during the service. He didn’t realize what happened until after the service.

"Pastor was walking all across there,” Stewart said. “Other people were over there. It was just the grace of God that no one got hit."

Martin said no church members were hurt, and the ceiling tile and roof were the only physical damage. She doesn’t believe the bullet was fired off intentionally with the church as the target.

"It was New Year's Eve, and they're firing off weapons and firecrackers,” Martin said. “They're just having a minute's worth of joy that could have cost someone a lifetime of grief."

Martin said she hopes whoever shot the bullet realizes the impact it could have had on their church body.

"Be cognizant of your actions,” she said. “What goes up must come down." 

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