Local & State Headlines

Church vandalism investigated

• A Molotov cocktail thrown through a church window Saturday did not ignite.

Holly McCarthy

ALBANY — The Albany Police Department is looking for the person who apparently threw a Molotov cocktail through a window at Sherwood Baptist Church.

APD spokesperson Phyllis Banks said a church employee noticed a broken window in the child care center at 2201 Whispering Pines Rd. and called police. Upon investigation, the officers discovered the crude bomb.

The device did not ignite, and the building was empty at the time, Banks said.

Albany Fire Department officials said they were simply there as a precaution, and that the APD would handle the investigation.

Banks said no one had been apprehended.

“The church has high-tech surveillance equipment that is being reviewed by investigators,” Banks said.

Sherwood executive pastor Jim McBride said the church is relieved that no one was injured.

“The Lord was really looking out for us,” McBride said. “Nothing really happened other than a mess.”

McBride said he was pleased with the response of the APD and AFD.

“We’re just saddened that someone would do that to the church, or anyone else,” McBride said.