“He wasn’t in his right mind”: bullets from Clewiston shooting spree hit church

The Clewiston Police Department says a man was arrested on Monday for going on a shooting spree in Clewiston.

They say he fired a .22 rifle at tractors at Kelly Tractor, then took shots at Community Christian Church across the street.

I’m Clewiston’s own committed Community Correspondent, Austin Schargorodski, so when I heard about this I went to see how people are feeling about it.

Austin Schargorodski

Bullet holes were still visible on the wall and door of the front of the church. “One, two, three, four right there. Then, two hit right here and here on the door. They also hit the window and pulverized it,” said Lee Henderson, an elder at the church for three years.

Henderson said he thanks god nobody was inside when it happened - especially because of where is desk is.

Austin Schargorodski

“They were shooting right over that way,” he said pointing at the door from his desk inside.

“One could have been deflected a little bit and hit me.”

In the arrest report, Clewiston Police say surveillance footage showed Christopher R. Shutter firing a rifle into tractors at Kelly Tractor - causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Then, police say he walked across the street and fired several rounds into the church.

Through facial recognition software and running the vehicle license plate number from surveillance footage, police say they determined Shuster was the shooter.

Austin Schargorodski

When they searched his home, police say they found the .22 rifle that was used in the shooting. They also say Shuster admitted to being in Clewiston when it happened.

“We’ve prayed for him. Because we care about everybody and we know that he wasn’t in his right minds to just come shoot our building up or shoot the other building up,” said Jon Hantsbarger, the pastor of Community Christian Church.

Austin Schargorodski