Congregants of an east Charlotte church scattered into the woods Saturday when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of their members, according to witnesses.

About 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property off Albemarle Road while their children played games and their spouses cooked meals. Agents parked just outside a closed gate leading to the church parking lot and ran into the yard, said the pastor, who did not want to identify himself or his church.

The agents asked no questions and showed no identification before taking one man away, whose wife and child were inside at the time, the pastor said. They attempted to grab others, too.

“Right now, everybody is scared. Everybody,” he said. “One of these guys with immigration, he say he was going to arrest one of the other guys in the church. He pushed him.” Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.

Some yard workers fled into the surrounding woods when officials arrived, including 15-year-old Miguel Vazquez. “I thought, ‘Wait, why am I running? I’m a citizen,’” Vazquez said. He was friends with the man who was taken and worries about the family he left behind.