Rob Shehadie scares off man at St Bernadette’s Catholic Church Dundas Valley

Funnyman Rob Shehadie was in a serious situation on Sunday when he confronted a man who got off a bus, spat in a northwest Sydney church and began filming himself in front of hundreds of worshippers.

The man alarmed parishioners when he walked into St Bernadette's Catholic Church.

Fresh from the horror of a bishop being stabbed at Wakeley, churchgoers in northwest Sydney got a fright when a man got off a bus, spat inside the building’s foyer, shouted and began livestreaming himself.

Comedian Rob Shehadie was one of the worshippers at the 10am mass at St Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Dundas Valley on Sunday when the man interrupted the service which hundreds – including several families – attended about 10.45am.

Wearing a backpack he got out his phone to livestream himself, which elicited fears he would do something chilling.

Shehadie swiftly approached the man, who he said was familiar to several locals, led him outside and called triple-0.

“I was very alert and then a lot of guys came out of the church and took control,’’ he said.

“You have to be vigilant.’’

A man about to burst into St Bernadette's Catholic Church at Dundas Valley on April 21.

An image from the CCTV footage taken at the front of the church at 10.43am.

Shehadie said the man, who he described as tall, lanky, Anglo and in his late 30s, kept filming after he left the church until police arrived.

Just moments before the man entered the church, he was thinking about the Wakeley incident and what he would do if he was in a similar situation.

He “could tell straight away” something was amiss.

“He didn’t look all there,’’ Shehadie said.

“He didn’t look violent, he just called stuff out. Someone saw him spit.’’

Shehadie was anxious the man had sinister intentions because he got off at the bus stop directly in front of the Cox Cres church.

Rob Shehadie stopped the church intruder and took him outside before cops arrived. Picture: Monique Harmer

“He had a motive and he was live streaming so all that made me a bit worried,’’ he said.

Intimidated by his height, the man retreated when Shehadie confronted him.

Brother Anthony Maroun, who was serving the mass along with father Benedict Mackenzie, said mothers grabbed their children who were in their parents’ room close to the church entrance.

“The way mums were protecting their kids after it happened was heartbreaking,’’ he said.

“There’s a lot of young families there. It was so sad, the poor families standing there.’’

He said it was not the first time a person had disrupted mass to criticise the Church but agreed more people were on edge because of the recent stabbing of Mar Mari Emmanuel last week.

Brother Anthony said security improvements had been discussed that morning but you “can’t lock people out of the church” or “be too extreme’’.

The man was not charged, with a NSW Police spokeswoman saying the man was dealt with under the Mental Health Act.

Originally published as Rob Shehadie scares off man at St Bernadette’s Catholic Church Dundas Valley