COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — An Idaho pastor who led the prayer at a weekend campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was gunned down outside his church the next day but was expected to survive.

Altar Church pastor Tim Remington, who has counseled drug addicts and inmates in this city about 30 miles east of Spokane, Washington, was shot as many as six times Sunday, including in the head and lung, officials said.

He was listed in fair condition at Kootenai Health on Monday morning.

Outreach pastor John Padula spoke with Remington’s doctors and said the 55-year-old is “going to be fine.” Remington prayed Saturday with the Texas senator in Coeur d’Alene, but officials do not know what prompted the shooting.

“We pray for his full recovery and are thankful for the efforts of law enforcement to ensure the attacker is swiftly brought to justice,” the Cruz campaign said in a statement Monday.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department said it is looking for local resident Kyle Andrew Odom, 30, a decorated former Marine who should be considered armed and dangerous.

Advertisement

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Police Chief Lee White said there was no obvious motive for the shooting

White said Odom was armed when he attended services in the church earlier Sunday, and that the shooting toll could have been much worse.

Odom has no criminal record, but does have a history of mental illness, White said.

Odom served in the Marines from 2006-2010, winning an Iraq Campaign Medal and other awards, and rose to the rank of corporal. He later graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in biochemistry.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.