A Nigerian immigrant whom Marietta Police say threatened to shoot up a Northeast Cobb church and kill people inside has been charged with making terroristic threats.
Police said Ken Ogbemudia, a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Heaven’s Gate on Pickens Industrial Drive, located off Allgood Road, has been admitted to WellStar Kennestone Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Once he is released, police said he will be held without bond. Marietta Police issued a statement Friday morning saying that Temitosan Abimbola, the pastor of the church, told authorities about Ogbemudia’s threats.
Police said Ogbemudia allegedly texted a threatening message to church members. According to police, the pastor also spoke with a woman identified as Karen James, whom he said told him that she had purchased two AK-47 rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition.
Ogbemudia was taken into custody on Thursday, according to police, who said they have located no weapons and added that James is cooperating with the investigation.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are checking into Ogbemudia’s immigration status.
Police said he arrived in the United States from Nigeria in 2011 and has told authorities he is in the country illegally.
The church is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a Pentecostal denomination based in Lagos, Nigeria, and that has branches in nearly 200 nations.
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