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FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A man was shot and killed this weekend at a Flint church where another homicide victim's funeral was being held, authorities said.
Police Chief Alvern Lock told Mlive.com (http://bit.ly/WTcLqG ) the shooting happened Saturday afternoon inside Full Gospel Christian Church and that the gunman fled and was still at large Sunday.
The man who was killed at the funeral was identified as 28-year-old Steven Lawton.
People were at the church for the funeral of Gerrell Tyler, who was shot Dec 30. He was Flint's last homicide victim of 2012.
"It's crazy because my cousin can't even be buried the proper way," Tyler's cousin, Bennie Johnson, said.
Johnson said he didn't hear any shots inside the church Saturday, only someone yelling for everyone to get down.
Another cousin, Shauntele Clay-Johnson, said she was in the front of the church during the shooting.
"Something really needs to happen in Flint," she said. "I'm still in shock that somebody came and did that at a funeral . in church."
Lock said it was unclear if Tyler's funeral and Lawson's killing were connected.
"No one expects to come to a funeral and see someone shot," the chief said.
Former City Councilman Delrico Loyd and Tyler were classmates at Flint Northwestern High School. Loyd called the killing at Tyler's funeral "one of the saddest things I've heard happening in the church in my life."
Loyd, an associate pastor at North Star Missionary Baptist Church, said the slaying shows the community needs spiritual renewal as much as it does law enforcement.
"When people don't even respect pastors, what does that tell you?" he said. "Police presence is fine, jobs are fine, but we have a heart problem. ... Until they find refuge in something positive, and not violence, we will continue to have this problem."