Deployment to California Follows Recent Shooting-Related Responses in Paris and Oregon
 
Contact: Erik Ogren, 704-401-2117, eogren@bgea.org
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 3, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- As details continue to emerge following the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in the southern California city of San Bernardino, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains have been welcomed into the community by local authorities to provide emotional and spiritual care. The first chaplains arrived yesterday afternoon, hours after the tragedy.

At this time it is being reported that there are 14 fatalities, with 17 more injured. According to the  Los Angeles Times, this is the deadliest mass-shooting in the United States since the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., nearly three years ago.

"I'm in California today, not far from San Bernardino where the mass shooting took place," said Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, on his Facebook page. "Please join me in praying right now for each one of the injured, the victims' families, and the first responders in this ongoing crisis."

Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, said, "Our hearts are broken for those who lost their lives, and particularly their families, following this shooting. We're sending in a team to encourage the community, offering love, hope and support. A tragedy like this affects everybody."

The response to San Bernardino is the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team's third shooting-related deployment since October. Chaplains were on-site at  Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Oct. 1, and just completed an internationally-coordinated effort to Paris following the terrorist attacks there on Nov. 13.

For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit www.billygraham.org/rrt. Updates can also be found at www.facebook.com/RRTChaplains.

About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team:
The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into a nationwide network of chaplains in 48 states who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 200 disaster sites, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.