Floyd Palmer, 52, was arrested and charged yesterday by Atlanta police for the shooting death of 39-year-old Greg McDowell, 39, as he stood on stage leading a prayer service at the World Changers Church International.
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Yesterday morning Palmer, a former volunteer staff member at World Changers, walked into the church and shot McDowell as he was leading the service.
Palmer was found a few hours later at a Macy’s in Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead, Atlanta.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Palmer pleaded guilty to shooting a man a decade ago in Baltimore and was committed to a mental health facility there.
In 2004 he pleaded guilty to assault charges and was deemed “not criminally responsible” and was committed, according to Maryland court records.
Christine Singleterry, Palmer’s former mother-in-law, said Palmer shot a man following an argument at a Baltimore mosque. “He got him to go outside and then shot him in the parking lot,” said Singleterry. She said he served about 18 months in the mental facility and was released. She said the victim remains paralyzed.
Popular televangelist Creflo Dollar, who is known in all parts of Atlanta, GA, is the head of World Changers International, which he started in 1986 with eight members. His congregation now has upwards of 30,000 people.
As for McDowell, friends and family said that he was a wonderful man and tremendous leader who was a role model and a father.
Palmer is scheduled to make his first appearance in Fulton County Magistrate Court this morning.
SOURCE: AJC
Photo of Floyd Palmer courtesy of Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
