Trending
WEIRTON -- Weirton First Church of the Nazarene will sponsor a visit from Molly Hudgens, who will speak at Weir High School and at the church for a public event on Tuesday.
Hudgens will share the story of how she prevented a shooting on Sept. 28, 2016 at Sycamore Middle School in Tennessee, where she worked as a counselor. When a student with a fully-loaded semi-automatic handgun came to her with a plan to kill people on the school's campus, Hudgens said the student told her they believed she was the only one who could talk them out of it.
After a 90-minute intervention, the student relinquished the weapon to Hudgens with no shots fired and no lives lost.
"I first encountered Molly Hudgens in an interview with Malcolm Gladwell for the Medal of Honor: Stories of Courage podcast, and I felt more people should hear her story," said Bennett Briles, lead pastor of Weirton First Church of the Nazarene. "We want to bless and encourage our local high school and community by having her visit and share in person."
Hudgens' retelling of the event walks the audience through the specifics of the incident that took place in her office and highlights previous training that affected her decision-making process during the event. Hudgens speaks boldly of her faith throughout and challenges those in attendance to remember that every human interaction matters and that one life can make a difference. Hudgens became the first Tennessean and only the 10th woman to become a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation's Citizens Medal of Honor for her efforts that day.
The public event will begin at 7 p.m. at Weirton First Church of the Nazarene, 475 Colliers Way, Weirton. Admission is free, and no pre-registration is required. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Additional information is available at weirtonnazarene.com and on the Weirton First Church of the Nazarene Facebook page.