Detroit pastor shoots to death alleged attacker

The pastor of a Detroit church in the US State of Michigan has been charged with the shooting death of an alleged attacker during service, amid more fatal gun violence countrywide.

Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt said the shooting happened Sunday afternoon shortly after the start of church service at the City of God storefront church.

According to Dolunt, the man and the pastor had prior "issues." He said the man was threatening the pastor with a brick when the pastor pulled out his pistol and shot the alleged attacker several times.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Authorities did not immediately release the names of the men.

Dolunt says prosecutors will investigate the case to decide if the shooting was justified. The pastor was also taken into custody for further questioning.

Church violence in the US became an issue in the wake of a church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine people dead back in June.

Minnesota deputy killed in hospital shooting

Meanwhile, a sheriff's deputy was shot and killed inside a Minnesota hospital Sunday morning by a suspect who was being treated there, authorities said.

Danny Hammond, the shooter, was being monitored by Aitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Sandberg at the request of the hospital, where he was being treated. According to police, in a "struggle" that broke out early in the morning, Hammond grabbed Sandberg's gun and shot him to death.

Hospital security rushed to Hammond’s room and electrically stunned him. He then became unresponsive and died after being taken into custody.

Sandberg, 60, was married with a daughter and had been working with the Aitkin County Sheriff's Department as an investigator since 1991.

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