U.S. missionary rescued after South Africa shootout

An elite South African police unit stormed a property in the township of KwaMagxaki on Tuesday night, rescuing American missionary Josh Sullivan. Three people suspected of kidnapping him were fatally wounded during an intense gun battle after they opened fire on police, local news reported. Sullivan was found unharmed and in good health in a vehicle parked in the property’s driveway.

Four armed men had kidnapped Sullivan at gunpoint on April 10, while he was delivering a sermon at his church near Gqeberha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region. At least four elite police teams, including the Anti-Gang Unit, investigated the incident and assisted in his rescue, local news reported. Sullivan was home with his family on Wednesday, according to his mother’s Facebook post.

Why was Sullivan kidnapped? The men who abducted him demanded a ransom for Sullivan’s return, according to Brigadier Athlenda Mathle, a spokeswoman for the South Africa Police Service. No ransom was paid, she said.