JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An American pastor who was kidnapped last week by armed and masked men during a sermon in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa was rescued on Tuesday after three of his abductors engaged in gunfire with officials and were killed, police said Wednesday.
The 45-year-old American, Josh Sullivan from Tennessee, has been based in the Motherwell township branch of the Fellowship Baptist Church since 2018 alongside his wife and two children.
The missionary was abducted on Thursday when four men broke into the church. They stole two cellphones from members of the congregation before seizing Sullivan from the pulpit and bundling him out of the building. His truck was found abandoned a few hours later.
A multi-agency task force, including the Anti-Gang Unit and the Serious Organised Crime Unit, took over the investigation. On Tuesday night they approached the location where they suspected Sullivan was being held, a house in KwaMagxaki in the city of Gqeberha, about 20 minutes’ drive from the Baptist church.
According to police, a shootout began when suspects in a car parked outside the house tried to escape and began firing at them. Three unidentified suspects were killed, police said.
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said in a statement. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immedi …