BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — According to church officials, a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was shot multiple times while playing basketball in an Alabama house of worship was improving but remained in critical condition Monday at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) hospital.
Michael Fauber, an 18-year-old missionary from Dayton, Ohio, works full-time in the Alabama Birmingham Mission.
Fauber was shot four times during a weekly basketball game at the Birmingham Alabama Stake Center's gymnasium on Friday. The gunman entered the game and played for about 45 minutes before shooting Fauber without provocation, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office told Birmingham news station ABC 33/40.
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At the game, there were two other missionaries and a group of folks interested in learning more about the Church. They had no idea who the gunman was. An LDS spokeswoman told the news station, basketball games were frequently used to convince people to accept the church's ministry. The missionaries who were present, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, saved Fauber's life by controlling his bleeding until paramedics came.
As of Monday afternoon, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office had not identified a suspect. However, Deputy Chief David Agee told ABC 33/40 News that they were looking into a number of possibilities but didn't want to disclose them publicly.
Officials from the church told the news station he had a "long road" to recovery.
