BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo nun took matters into her own hands when she saw two men trying to steal gutters off her church’s roof. The men were no match for Sister Mary Johnice.
You could say Sister Mary Johnice is small but mighty. Over the weekend, two men were trying to remove the gutters at the Response to Love Center, but little did they know, they’d have to get through her first.
On Saturday, Sister Mary Johnice heard some noise coming from outside the building off Rother Avenue. At first, she thought, maybe it was the paper being delivered. The last thing she expected to see when she opened the door was this.. two men using a ladder to get on the roof to steal the gutter for copper.
The five foot nun, wasted no time. She grabbed the ladder, which is more than double her height, and threw it on the ground.
“I don’t know, I just picked it up like Superman and threw the ladder down, and it was okay,” Sister Johnice recalled. “And he took off, he went down the street and I ran through the building to see if I could get him. I don’t what I’d do, I’d probably invite him, ‘Come on let’s talk about this, why did you do this?'”
Sister Mary Johnice said she wasn’t scared or worried about her safety. She said she just knew what she had to do — but she’s not sure why the men were trying to steal the gutter, because it’s actually made of aluminum, not copper.
As of right now, the two men seen in the video have not been caught. Sister Mary Johnice said she’s been praying for them every day since the incident.
Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMinkewicz and click here to see more of her work.