JAHS Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 WEST VALLEY CITY — Six missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were held by a man at gunpoint in a home Thursday evening while visiting for a teaching session, police said. About 8:30 p.m., the men were visiting Paul Gutierrez Marquez, 45, when he showed them a firearm "making the victims feel very uneasy and not free to leave," according to an arrest affidavit filed in 3rd District Court. "The victims explained they were trying to leave after the first 10 (minutes) of being in the residence. (Marquez) made several threats that they could not leave and waved the firearm at the six victims keeping them at the residence for over an hour," the affidavit states. After about an hour, the missionaries "were able to calm him down," West Valley Police Lt. M.T. Johnson said. After they left, the missionaries called 911. They told police Marquez was drinking during the incident and "would point the firearm at individuals if he did not like what they were talking about," the affidavit states. Marquez told police "he did pull the firearm out to show the victims," according to court documents. He told police they'd find the gun on his couch. He was arrested for investigation of six counts of aggravated kidnapping, six counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. "We are grateful these six missionaries were able to calmly and appropriately deal with this situation and leave without injury. The church is working to provide any needed support and counseling to them as they recover from this alarming ordeal," church spokesman Daniel Woodruff said in a statement Friday. 6 church missionaries survive being held at gunpoint in Utah, police say Glad they got out safely. I remember on my mission my companion and I were being held by a drunk man who insisted on cooking us some eggs. People do some strange thing when under the influence. 2 Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) My brother in law's brother is a police officer in West Valley, Utah! I take it he wasn't involved! Edited June 21, 2019 by Duncan Link to comment
strappinglad Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 I'm missing some info. Six missionaries to teach a lesson ? ???:?????? Link to comment
JAHS Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 20 minutes ago, strappinglad said: I'm missing some info. Six missionaries to teach a lesson ? ???:?????? Strength in numbers? I wondered about that too. All other news sources also say 6. Maybe the others had nothing else to do. Link to comment
Tacenda Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) 51 minutes ago, JAHS said: Strength in numbers? I wondered about that too. All other news sources also say 6. Maybe the others had nothing else to do. Maybe they were scared to have just two teach this guy? Or felt an intuition about him that just two might be in for some trouble. I cannot believe how scary it would be nowadays to knock on anyone's door, especially with all the guns out there, and Utah has a lot of them. Maybe someone who is senile opened the door and thought they were robbing them, and would shoot them on the spot, so many possibilities out there of harm that could have happen. Of course I know these missionaries had an appointment sounds like. But all the other times of cold knocking could have some scary situations. When my son was on his mission the swat team came while he and his companion were teaching a family, I guess the family were into drugs or something.The swat team tried to arrest the missionaries thinking they were part of a drug ring. Luckily they were let go. This was in Oakland California. There were more stories that my son wouldn't tell me until after his mission, I was oblivious to anything during it. I wonder what happened to the missionaries not tracting anymore? Wasn't the church thinking of doing that or am I remembering wrong? But of course this could have been a referral. Edited June 21, 2019 by Tacenda Link to comment
Calm Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 2 hours ago, strappinglad said: I'm missing some info. Six missionaries to teach a lesson ? ???:?????? Ward missionaries, regular missionaries, and maybe ministers they call missionaries because they were there to teach? 1 Link to comment
Jeanne Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 Well...this is more than scary. They will surely remember their missions! So glad they were let go. Link to comment
strappinglad Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 Slightly off topic , but does anyone here know the current status of the Church and missionaries in Venezuela? Link to comment
CV75 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 6 hours ago, strappinglad said: I'm missing some info. Six missionaries to teach a lesson ? ???:?????? Maybe the Marquezes are a missionary couple and were hosting their district meeting. Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 7 hours ago, JAHS said: ................................ People do some strange thing when under the influence. Maybe he just wanted to hear the Gospel preached. Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 5 hours ago, Tacenda said: ........................................... I cannot believe how scary it would be nowadays to knock on anyone's door, especially with all the guns out there, and Utah has a lot of them. Maybe someone who is senile opened the door and thought they were robbing them, and would shoot them on the spot, ........................... LDS missionaries are easily recognizable, and people don't just pull guns on them. Although I do recall a Red Dog Beer ad some years ago had two LDS missionaries running out of a yard and being chased by a Red Dog. Was pretty funny. Link to comment
The Nehor Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Had a gun pulled on me once. We just left after he went on about wishing he could kill us. Link to comment
MiserereNobis Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 10 hours ago, JAHS said: I remember on my mission my companion and I were being held by a drunk man who insisted on cooking us some eggs. You were held at egg-point! How were the eggs? 1 Link to comment
JAHS Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 2 hours ago, MiserereNobis said: 12 hours ago, JAHS said: I remember on my mission my companion and I were being held by a drunk man who insisted on cooking us some eggs. You were held at egg-point! How were the eggs? After about an hour we managed to convince him we were not hungry and he let us go still holding 5 or 6 eggs in his hands. 1 Link to comment
MiserereNobis Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 I dare say you missed an opportunity for cultural exchange... 1 Link to comment
The Nehor Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 49 minutes ago, JAHS said: After about an hour we managed to convince him we were not hungry and he let us go still holding 5 or 6 eggs in his hands. I am pretty sure that under local laws he now owns your first born child. 1 Link to comment
JAHS Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 12 hours ago, The Nehor said: 13 hours ago, JAHS said: After about an hour we managed to convince him we were not hungry and he let us go still holding 5 or 6 eggs in his hands. I am pretty sure that under local laws he now owns your first born child. This was in Austria. It means I have to marry his daughter. 1 Link to comment
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