An Arizona street preacher who was shot in the head last month is miraculously doing much better now and on track to survive.

As previously reported, 26-year-old Christian man Hans Schmidt was standing on a street corner in Glendale around 6:00 pm on Nov. 15th preaching to folks about a nearby church service when he was shot in the head.

Church leader in AZ fights for his life after being shot in the head while preaching on street corner https://t.co/WLFzxq3KlU via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) November 19, 2023

The bullet “traveled through his brain,” according to a Facebook post from Schmidt’s father, and left him in critical condition.

“At the time of this post, he is sedated and stable on life support,” his father, Eric, wrote in the Facebook update. “They are draining fluid from his head to relieve pressure on his brain. So far they are saying it’s inoperable. It’s an incredibly sad situation.”

“We are hoping for a miracle. If you have any information about the shooting, please contact the police,” he added.

View the post below:

By early December, Schmidt was still alive and “fighting and working really hard” to recover, according to a Facebook update from his wife, Zulya.

“God is moving,” she wrote in the post. “He has been with us every step of the way. We are still believing and contending for a supernatural recovery. The fact he is here is a miracle in itself. Hans is fighting and working really hard every day.”

“Your prayers are not in vain. God is working behind the scenes and is using all of this for His glory. Hans is making progress. We have a long road ahead, but we will gladly take it,” she added.

Look:

And now, several weeks later, Schmidt is doing so well that he’s able to hold his children once more, according to another FB post from Zulya.

“In the blink of an eye our lives were changed,” the post reads. “You are a living miracle. Every day I am amazed Seeing you hold our baby boy once again, waving at our baby girl. You have a long way to go, but God will carry us through. Thank you to everyone who has been praying. Please continue to pray!!”

Look:

Meanwhile, the chapel where Schmidt works — Victory Chapel — is calling for more prayers for him and also raising money for his family.

“God has moved tremendously these past few weeks and it’s because of your prayers,” the chapel wrote in an Instagram post about a week ago. “Hans has shown improvement, and progress is being made.”

“While Hans continues to fight and work hard at his recovery, your prayers are still needed and highly valued by him and his family, as the journey is not over. God is working behind the scenes and is using all of this for His glory. Believe and contend with us for a supernatural recovery,” the chapel added.

Look:

 

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A post shared by Victory Chapel {1st PHX} (@vc_1stphx)

But despite all this, Schmidt’s shooter still remains on the loose. That said, the Glendale Police Department has released surveillance footage of the shooting.

“In the video, you can see Schmidt is on the street corner, you see a lot of cars driving by, a lot of people in the area, but it doesn’t seem like anybody else is reacting to what happened,” according to Glendale Police Sgt. Randy Stewart.

“He gets back up, picks up his belongings, but we do not see anybody else driving by that seemed like something ordinary is going on,” Stewart added in a statement to local station KSAZ.

Moving forward, the police could desperately use the public’s help.

“Unfortunately, in this case, we are looking for some type of lead that is going to help us in this case. Just recently we did go to Silent Witness to try to see if we can get more information out there to see if we can get someone to come forward with information,” Stewart said.

“In this case, we obviously go through any type of video surveillance that we have. Obviously, we have the one video on the street corner that we were able to release, but we also do a canvas of the area of any businesses that might have surveillance video. We’re trying to look for something that is out of the ordinary that might give us a clue of a vehicle, suspect or if they were on foot, in the car when this occurred,” he added.

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Vivek Saxena

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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.

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