Evangelist Hans Schmidt returns to church months after being shot in head while preaching
Hans Schmidt, the 26-year-old military veteran and outreach director of Victory Chapel First Phoenix in Arizona, who was shot in the head while street preaching last November and wasn't initially expected to recover, has returned to his church, his wife announced Sunday, saying, "he walks, he talks, [and] he even plays the drums."
In a fresh update on her husband's "miracle" recovery, Zulya Schmidt, who shares two young children with the preacher, published videos and photos in an Instagram post showing him smiling and playing the drums at their church.
"We serve a miracle working God. He walks, he talks, he even plays the drums," she wrote about her husband in the post. "God has done an incredible work in Hans' life, and every day, he continues to improve. Please continue to pray for a full restoration."
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In a statement on its website, Victory Chapel First Phoenix stressed that their prayers have been answered.
"We are rejoicing and thanking God for the miracle we have seen," the church's statement reads. "Hans has been released from the hospital and is home with his family. Please continue to pray for this family as they navigate the road to recovery."
Schmidt, a former military medic, was shot in the head on the evening of Nov. 15, 2023, at the intersection of 51st Ave and Peoria in Glendale, Arizona, while doing church outreach before a Wednesday night service.
"Single entry point on the side on the left temple. The bullet traveled through his brain. ... No one heard the shot or saw where it came from," family friend Brad Currell wrote in a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $78,000 as of Tuesday on behalf of the Schmidt's family.
"Police detectives reviewed the intersection video footage. He initially fell but got back up and was walking and talking but bleeding. No one had realized what happened at first. He had started seizures and vomiting, and they took him to the hospital."
The latest update comes just over a month after Zulya Schmidt revealed that her husband was making "stunning progress" but was still not able to speak.
At the time that Schmidt was shot, his wife said he had been preaching on the street for about a year.
"He's been doing that for over a year, and usually he street preaches for 30 minutes before every evening service for our church," she told CBN News. "That day, he just ended street preaching early, and I thought that was odd."
She said her husband packed up the sound system and drove back to the church. She eventually noticed he was bleeding. She had no idea he had been shot.
"I had no idea what really had happened," she said. "He drove our vehicle to the church [and] unloaded the sound system."
Schmidt was eventually rushed to a local hospital, where doctors did not realize he had been shot until they did a CT scan, and he became unresponsive.
"My heart sank," the faithful wife said. "I just felt sick to my stomach."
She said doctors and investigators did not think that her husband would still be alive today. She said neurosurgeons told her that because of the bullet's location in her husband's brain, it could not be removed.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the pastor's wife also recalled hearing a detective say, "We'll know more after the autopsy."
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