They said worshippers shut the church’s iron gate to prevent the assailant entering and killing more people in the attack which lasted up to 20 minutes, with another 10 minutes passing before police shot and wounded the assailant.
A brave 53-year-old resident pounced on the gunman as he reloaded his automatic rifle in a move which likely also saved dozens of lives in the southern suburb of Helwan, said the witnesses.
Courageous residents pelted the assailant with rocks and soda cans as he walked away from the church, occasionally pausing to fire warning shots from his AK-47 rifle.
The attack began at around 10.30am when Mass at the Mar Mina church had just finished and some worshippers were already heading home.
Magdy Adel, a 65-year-old Christian who runs a store near the church, sheltered five worshippers – three elderly women, one elderly man and a middle-aged woman – who took cover in his shop. He pulled down the store’s shutters and hid on the pavement behind a car to keep an eye on the attacker.
“The terrorist was very agitated when they closed the church’s iron gate and he could not go inside,” he said. “He had a lot of ammunition and kept shooting at the gate, killing some people inside.”
Another witness, Mustafa Mahmoud, was on the street a short distance from the church when the gunman opened fire. He first thought the gunman was a plainclothes policeman assigned to guard the church.
“His first…
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