Ocean Springs church praying following deadly shooting

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - One church in Ocean Springs is opening its doors to anyone who wants to pray and have a conversation about Friday’s deadly shooting.

Emmanuel Baptist Church is inviting people to come out Tuesday at 6 p.m. to pray for peace. This comes after Friday’s shooting left one person dead and six others injured.

Senior Pastor Dewayne Doyle said it’s important for community members to come together during this time.

“It’s a tragic event that happened in Ocean Springs that as the city tries to grow, it attracts folks trying to take advantage of the situation. I don’t know all the details about what happened, but it is tragic that a young man lost his life, and that other were hurt,” Doyle said.

The pastor says tough times like these unify people the most.

“When we see people come together to fill the need whether it’s through a storm or through a shooting or any kind of event like that. It can be a place where healing is needed,” Doyle said.

Church members who live in Ocean Springs are asking for people to reach out if they need someone to talk to.

“When stuff like this happens, it opens everybody’s eyes. You’re more aware of what’s happening in your community. People are hurting, people need help. That’s what we’re here for, that’s what we do best is to help people,” Josh Hutchison said.

The church will be opening its doors for anyone who wants to pray and have a conversation about the shooting.

“We want to be a place that wants to foster that sort of thing as well because we think we get to talk to each other instead of with each other and there’s a lot of need. Not only was a life lost, but the businesses were affected. The homeowners were affected. The community was affected,” Doyle said.

The church is located at 401 Holcomb Blvd.

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