PHOENIX -- A Phoenix church became an unlikely place for violence when as many as three masked men broke in, robbing several people at gunpoint as they attended an evening meeting.
It happened on October 28 at the Faith United Methodist Church near 19th and Northern avenues.
"It was a very brazen thing to do," said Reverand Judith Boroto.
Boroto was in the chapel when the men burst into the meeting halls across the breezeway. She heard the commotion and then saw one man grabbing a woman's purse.
"I yelled out, 'What are you doing?'" she said. "Then two women pushed me back and said that they had a gun."
Boroto believes it is possible that the suspects may have been casing the church prior to the robbery and knew that a group of mostly women was going to be there at the time.
Three purses were stolen and one woman suffered minor bruises in the struggle.
Boroto says that she is taking steps to improve lighting around the church and is having someone patrol the campus to improve security. She has also contacted other churches in the area to warn them.
"We need to be prudent," she said. "But we can't let fear rule our lives."
Police are looking for two to three suspects.
