Details have emerged on how a South African elite Police unit successfully rescued a U.S. Pastor kidnapped by armed men during a church service last week.
The rescue followed a “high-intensity shoot-out” that left three people dead, the BBC reports. Josh Sullivan was found unharmed in the township in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape – the area where the 45-year-old was kidnapped on 10 April – on the evening of Tuesday, 15 April.
No immediate details on the kidnappers have been provided, the BBC notes, though they are suspected of having been familiar with the movements of the pastor and his family.
The British state broadcaster notes that over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in kidnappings for ransom in South Africa.
Jeremy Hall, a spokesperson for the Sullivan family, told local newspaper TimesLIVE that the pastor was at church with his wife and their children when the kidnapping occurred, adding the kidnappers “knew his name”.
On his personal website, Sullivan describes himself as “a church planting missionary” and says that he moved to South Africa with his wife and children in 2018 to establish a church for Xhosa-speaking people.
After the kidnappers made a ransom demand, an elite South African police unit, known as the Hawks, became involved, the BBC reports.
In a statement released today, Hawks spokesperson Avele Fumba said that Sullivan had been rescued following “verified intelligence wherein a coordinated team…moved swiftly to the identified location”.
Fumba said that as the elite team approached the identified house, the suspects attempted to flee in a vehicle, while opening fire at the police officers.
“The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded,” Fumba said.
