The area was full of people, and all of a sudden a huge limb from a tree snapped off. The limb landed on several church goers just leaving a funeral.
And a camera across the street captured it all.
Tuesday afternoon, a packed funeral mass let out at Harvey Memorial Community Church in the Chatham neighborhood.
As some in attendance began to walk to their cars for the precession, one of the large limbs from a tree snaps off, landing on seven people.
Eric Peters was playing the organ inside when he heard the commotion.
"I heard a little noise, but didn't know exactly what happened. I came out it was a chaotic scene, people running, trying to lift the tree off the young lady who was under the tree. Just chaos," he said.
People rushed to help rescue those trapped underneath.
"There were about 14 men who were holding this huge branch of this tree up off the crowd," said Pastor Darrow Andrews. "There were people under the tree looking under the trees making sure no one was around."
Of the seven injured, one woman was more seriously hurt. She was treated for head injuries and released early Tuesday evening. Everyone else suffered minor injuries and will be ok.
"Like the pastor said in the funeral, we're not promised tomorrow," Peters said. "This is a prime example that anything can happen at any time."
Pastor Andrews said he is not sure why this happened. He was told the tree might be diseased.
He took over this church just two months ago. He said he had heard that this tree, along with others around the church, will be removed.
