Had the cigar lit by Bullock blown up St. Bernard's rectory, I would not be here writing this post, nor would have hundreds of others

Gary Lee Bullock left St. Bernard's driving away in Fr. Freed's car approximately around 7 a.m. About an hour later, I was there to set up for the 9 a.m. mass. I was in the church only a couple of feet away from the kitchen of the rectory as I walked up, a couple of feet away as I was setting up. Another parishioner was in the parish hall by the bathrooms.

A little before 9 a.m. mass, the church was full of people for New Year's Day Mass. On the other side of the rectory are apartments and office buildings. Across the street, Wells Fargo bank and on the 6th street side County and private offices.

When Deacon Frank Weber went to check on Fr. Eric a few minutes after 9 a.m., he was in the rectory where the lit cigar was next to a gas burner.