MT. JULIET, TN – An unsettling incident took place on Easter Sunday outside Global Vision Bible Church in Tennessee when a trailer filled with Holy Bibles was deliberately set ablaze.
Local authorities, including the Mt. Juliet Police and Fire Department, responded to the suspicious fire incident reported at the intersection of Old Lebanon Dirt Road and Chandler Road adjacent to the church. The trailer, reportedly left intentionally at the intersection, was set on fire.
Pastor Greg Locke, pastor of Global Vision Bible Church, expressed shock at the discovery of the incident on such a sacred day. In a Facebook post, Locke informed his congregation that the church’s security cameras identified a man early Sunday morning, dropping off a trailer brimming with Bibles, and then premeditatedly ignited the trailer and its contents.
Locke lives near the church, and he had no knowledge about the incident until his arrival at the church on Sunday morning. In his social media post, he added images of the burnt Bibles, fire trucks, and police vehicles attending the distressing scene.
He revealed that a woman who had driven overnight to get to their church witnessed the fire in progress from the parking lot and alerted the police.
The pastor found around 200 Bibles set ablaze, blocking the main entry to the church parking lot from Old Lebanon Dirt Rd. and Chandler Radford Rd.
The peculiar aspect of the crime, as noted by Locke, was the careful planning and execution by the culprit, who even turned on the trailer’s blinkers and scotched the wheels. The investigation into the suspicious fire is ongoing under the purview of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office. As of now, no arrests have been made.
Law enforcement has reassured residents, despite having limited information to share, that their safety and security are always a priority.