Missionary Shot While Playing Basketball In Vestavia Hills Friday

VESTAVIA HILLS, AL — A missionary was hospitalized in serious condition after he was shot while playing basketball at a meetinghouse Friday night.

Elder Michael Fauber, 18, of Dayton, Ohio, a missionary serving in the Alabama Birmingham Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was shot multiple times, church officials said in a news release.

Elder Fauber was playing basketball with a group in Vestavia Hills' Birmingham Stake Center when, at around 8:30 p.m. Friday, he spoke with "an unknown individual who came into the building during the activity."

He was shot a few minutes later, and then the shooter fled, church officials said.

He has undergone surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. Currently, he is in "serious, but stable and improving condition," spokesperson Sam Penrod told Patch.

No other missionaries in the building were physically hurt, but they are receiving counseling, officials said.

"The Church is cooperating with law enforcement and is awaiting additional details from investigators," Penrod said in the news release. "Our prayers are with this missionary, his family and all the missionaries and others impacted by this senseless act of violence."

David Agee, Jefferson County deputy chief, told AL.com that it didn't appear anyone knew the suspect who started shooting.

"This was the first time they've seen him at this location," Agee told the news outlet.

Agee described the suspect as a "very skinny" Black male, likely in his mid-20s, with a light complexion, AL.com reported.