NEW DETAILS: Pastor released from hospital after stabbing

CASTLE HAYNE, NC (WWAY) — A New Hanover County church pastor is out of the hospital after the sheriff’s office says he was stabbed this morning at his church.

Members at Castle Hayne Advent Christian Church say it was perfectly normal that pastor Randall Smith was at the church early Tuesday morning.

“Every Tuesday morning they have prayer time and a prayer meeting,” member Michelle Braxton said.

This Tuesday wouldn’t be a normal one for Smith. 911 received this plea from a man at the church.

“Stay on the line with me okay?” the operator asked. “Ok. Hurry up. We got a stabbing here and the patient is bleeding.”

It happened around 8 a.m. on Hermitage Road. That’s near the GE plant. Investigators say the suspect entered the church and demanded money. They say when the pastor said he had no money, the suspect stabbed him in the abdomen then fled the church.

The suspect is described as a white male, 5’9″ to 5’10”, 160-175 lbs., 30-40 years of age, long dark hair with a beard wearing a black hoodie with a cammo jacket.

Braxton says she can’t believe it.

“I mean who would do this just a couple of days before Christmas,” Braxton said.

She says Smith is more than just a pastor.

“He’s like family and that’s the way our church is anyway,” Braxton said. “He’s a father figure to a lot of us too.”

A father figure that church goer Kathy Lewis Rector says would only pray for the man who did this.

“It’s just horrible what happened, but like I said people do mean things now and I know this pastor will never hold it against this man,” Kathy Rector said. “He will probably pray for him, and he’ll probably go see him in jail when he gets put in jail.”

Church members have identified the pastor as Randall Smith, 73. The deacon at the church says Smith’s vital organs were not hit in the attack. He was transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where he was released this afternoon.

It wasn’t a normal Tuesday for this church, but Braxton says they’ll pull together just as they normally do.

“We’ll do what’s got to be done and take care of everything for him,” Braxton said.

Deputies used a K-9 to search for the suspect.