Arkansas preacher who was shot while sharing gospel forgives gunman: 'We can't hold bitterness and anger'
Reverend Larry Oneal Walker spends his Sundays preaching at a busy intersection in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
The street preacher recently spoke out after a gunman opened fire while he was sharing the gospel on June 2. Walker reflected on the moment that could have taken his life.
Walker told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview that a man aggressively approached him and attempted to grab his microphone. (See the video at the top of this article.)
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When Walker told the man he could not have it, the man said he had a gun.
The two struggled, and the man shot him.
"I fell to the ground, checked my side with a handful of blood. The next thing I did was put my hands on my head and started praying," Walker said.
Walker said he forgives the man who shot him, citing John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son."
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"As a Christian, we must forgive one another," said Walker.
"We can't hold bitterness and anger and strife in our hearts against one another."
Walker said the doctors told him the manner in which the bullet entered the side of his body was "a miracle" as it grazed past his vital organs.
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"I see miracles all the time, all the time. That's why I said, 'I cannot die. I will not die. I can't get sick. I will not get sick because the Lord has given me life,'" he said.
LaKeisa Walker, Walker's daughter, said it was a horrific moment when she answered the phone and learned that her father had been shot.
"We were standing on the scripture that, ‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper,’ so we believed that that was a weapon formed against him, but it did not prosper… God manifested a healing, a miracle through him that day," she told Fox News Digital.
She said her father’s story touched not just the Arkansas community, but hers in Texas as well.
"They are just like, ‘That was God.’ It strengthened not only my faith, but the whole community," she said.
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Walker has been preaching for the past 50 years.
He began street preaching 15 years ago.
"This is why our nation has been so strong, because we believe in the Almighty God," said Walker.
He said America is healing — and that the loss of faith across the country has led to confusion and division.
Between 2007 and 2021, the percentage of adults who identify as not religiously affiliated has grown from 16% to 29%, according to the Pew Research Center.
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"America had been wounded with this evil spirit of hate," said Walker.
"Well, we're loving people. America [is] the best, blessed nation on the planet. There is no other nation greater than America."
Eighty percent of U.S. adults say that religion has lost its influence in society, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February.
LaKeisa Walker said, "We need to turn to God. I think this can be a beginning, a genesis of a movement across the country… Turn to God in such a time as this that our world is heading in right now."
Walker has not had any contact with the suspect since the incident.
The individual, identified as 20-year-old Latarryes Bush of North Little Rock, is currently being held without bond, pending his initial court appearance in North Little Rock District Court, Fox News Digital learned in a media release shared by the North Little Rock Police Department.