A US missionary kidnapped after being pistol whipped as he gave a sermon and dragged from his church has been dramatically rescued.
A heavily armed team over 20 officers of a South African Police unit known as The Hawks ambushed the gang at their safe house.
Three heavily armed gunmen had just moved pastor Josh Sullivan, 34, into their car to drive him to another safehouse as police approached.
When the kidnappers saw the officers with their weapons drawn a ‘high-intensity’ shootout took place with the officers killing them all.
The gunmen bad leapt from the car to flee and opened fire on cops.
Incredibly the officers had seen where the kidnapped pastor had been placed inside the car so were able to avoid hitting him with gunfire.
The Hawks came under sustained fire from the gang who had seized Pastor Sullivan in front of his wife Meaghan and 4 children last week.
A South African Police source said: ‘There was incredible gunfire but within 15 seconds it was over and the three gang members were lying dead.
Josh Sullivan (pictured) was kidnapped by four armed men from his church
The pastor was giving a service at the time of his kidnapping
He has been living in South Africa since 2018
‘No officers were injured but we are still missing three gang members so when we identify who these men are we will go after the rest of the gang’.
The dramatic shootout happened yesterday at KwaMagxai in Gqbertha, after the police received a tip off where the armed gang had been holed up.
Pastor Sullivan was attacked at 7pm at the Fellowship Baptist Church Motherwell in the Mandela Bay township of what was once Port Elizabeth by 4 masked gunmen.
Two more stood guard on the door as one of the gang pistol-whipped the pastor and dragged him up the aisle while others of the gang gang robbed the congregation.
The Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Avela Fumba said: ‘As officers approached the safe house they observed a vehicle was parked outside the premises with people in it.
‘The suspects inside the vehicle attempted to flee and opened fire on the team and officers responded leading to a high-intensity shoot out and the 3 suspects were killed.
‘The victim of the kidnapping was found inside the vehicle from which the suspects launched their attack but was miraculously unharmed and immediately assessed.
‘Medical personnel reported he was in excellent condition and he said he just wanted to be reunited with his wife and kids and we facilitated him of course on that.
‘The operation demonstrates the critical importance of inter-agency collaboration and timely intelligence in being able to tackle serious organised crime in South Africa.
‘The Hawks commend the bravery and professionalism of all officers and all the support personnel present who helped to secure the safe rescue of the kidnapped victim’ he said.
The suspects appeared to know Sullivan by name, and threatened his wife before abducting him in front of his family
His supporters flooded the church’s website and social media platforms with messages of hope and prayer
It was revealed that just 24 hours after Pastor Sullivan was abducted in front of his wife Meaghan and four children as he gave a sermon the armed gang contacted her
A neighbour who asked not to be named said: ‘I was just sitting watching TV and what sounded like World War 3 broke outside with over 100 bullets fired in a few seconds.
‘There were police everywhere and dogs and a man was pulled from a car that had been shot up and taken away surrounded by officers and then a perimeter was put up.
‘We were told it was the gang who had kidnapped a churchman last week’ he said.
It was revealed that just 24 hours after Pastor Sullivan was abducted in front of his wife Meaghan and four children as he gave a sermon the armed gang contacted her.
The mortified mother answered her mobile at a friend’s home where she and her family are staying whilst the police are in a desperate race against time to find the churchman.
A South African Police source said: ‘Meaghan got the call on Friday afternoon a day after the kidnap so the gang obviously had her mobile number and told her they had Josh.
‘She was distraught and a friend who was with her took the phone and was told unless the family or church came up with what is a very large ransom it would not end well.
‘A time to raise the funds by was given and then the gang member hung up’ he said.
The ransom demand on the Friday afternoon activated a specialist elite squad known as The Hawks who were called in and the Anti-Gang-Unit in a desperate bid to trace him.
The police source said: ‘Mr Sullivan knows too much to be simply let go so the situation is that either the ransom is paid for his safe release or The Hawks find the gang first’.
A fellow pastor Mark Coffey who runs a Fellowship Baptist Church in the USA told the SA Sunday Times: ‘There were six of them and three were armed and entered the church.
‘It was while evening service was taking place and they went straight to his wife Meaghan and grabbed her and one turned to the Pastor and said: ‘Is this your wife Josh?’.
‘Josh and Meaghan’s 4 children started crying and Josh tried to run to them but a man grabbed him and pistol-whipped him and dragged him to his own car parked outside’
The family were taken in by close friends after police raced to the scene and later found Mr Sullivan’s Toyota Fortuner dumped a few miles away but the gang had fled.
The family lived in fear as the kidnapper’s maintained no contact until the Friday call when the chilling threat was made to come up with the money or he would be killed.
The missionary said on his website he felt a calling from God in 2013 and in 2015 went to South Africa for a six-month internship at the church as part of his Bible training studies.
In 2018 he moved full time to Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha, and spent two years learning the Xhosa language so he could add the local tongue into his sermons.
His wife and young family moved with him and they have also taken in two Xhosa children who live with them and has become a popular and loved community member.
He moved from Maryville, Tennessee to become a ‘church planter’ which is a Baptist missionary who focuses on establishing new churches and congregations in new areas.
His US friend pastor Coffey added: ‘Josh’s love for the Xhosa people is evident in everything he does. He doesn’t just serve them he walks with them and learns from them’.
His mother Tonya Morton Rinket from Tennessee said on her Facebook page: ‘My heart is breaking please continue to pray for my son, daughter-in-law and all of our family.
‘Joshua is still missing but our congressman and the American Embassy are aware and working on find them and I know he is doing God’s work and he will be kept safe’.
The US Embassy in South Africa has made no comment thus far.
Kidnappings in South Africa have increased by 260% in a decade with ransoms being seen as big and easy money with mainly wealthy businessman or prominent people taken.
In the year 2023/4 there were 17,061 kidnappings though many were by family members taking members of their own family not for ransom and young girls taken for trafficking.
South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries in the world with 76 murders a day and 125 rapes a day but mostly in poor townships and relate to turf wars and drug gangs.
Only 5 tourists have been killed in the last 8 years mainly due to walking alone close to townships or driving by mistake into township areas and being attacked and killed.
