A Bolivian police officer has praised God for sparing his life after his pocket Bible stopped a bullet from entering his chest.
According to the cop in question, the live 9mm round was fired at him from a weapon that has been stolen from the police during clashes between supporters loyal to former president Evo Morales and law enforcement.
The incident occurred in the municipality of Yapacani, eastern Bolivia, as police attempted to calm the protests.
Oscar Gutierrez, head of the Special Force of the Fight Against Crime of Santa Cruz, explained how his officer was shot in the chest but that the bullet did not hurt him because he “had a Bible that stopped the projectile.”
“Yes, it was a miracle,” the officer himself explained, according to the Daily Mail.
“He is a young officer whose life was saved miraculously, he was shot by a projectile, I assume of 9mm calibre, and I know the weapons used were stolen from the Bolivian police,” Gutierrez added.
The police officer was sent to Santa Cruz to undergo medical tests but will soon return to work — he was completely uninjured in the shooting, thanks to the good word.
Former President Evo Morales was forced out of power by the military after accusations of a rigged election which saw him take 47.1% of the vote. He has since been granted asylum in Mexico and Senator Jeanine Añez had declared herself as interim president — bizarrely, by brandishing massive leather-bound Bible.
Not everyone is backing Añez, however. “She’s declared herself president without having a quorum in the parliament,” Morales supporter Julio Chipana told the Guardian. “She doesn’t represent us.” Groups of pro-Morales protesters attempted to storm the government building in La Paz exclaiming, “She must quit!”
But the senator remains convinced that she is the rightful leader of the Bolivian people. “My commitment is to return democracy and tranquility to the country,” she said, according to Fox News. “They can never again steal our vote.”