Attendees of a church service in Louisiana were scared for their lives when a teenager armed with a rifle attempted to storm the church through a back door, news outlet New York Post said, citing the video of the incident. The video of the incident was captured because the communion service was being live-streamed.
Parishioners were quick to spot the 16-year-old armed with a rifle and swarmed him and were able to hold him down outside until the cops arrived and arrested him.
ABBEVILLE, Louisiana—As children were about to receive their first Holy Communion at St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, parishioners confronted, and detained a 16yr old male clad in black and armed with a rifle, who tried to force his way into the Church.pic.twitter.com/17WQA8f2Lb— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) May 13, 2024
The incident happened in Abbevile’s St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church which is situated in the US state of Louisiana. The church was full of parents with young children who had congregated there for a religious event on Saturday morning.
The video of the incident showed that the incident happened about 48 minutes into the service. Following the commotion, parishioners seated at pews facing the priest, Father Nicholas Dupré, looked nervously behind them.
A few seconds later, an unidentified man wearing a suit approaches the priest and whispers something in his ear. He asked attendees to pray with him but chaos ensued as some attendees started screaming along with 60 children who were there to receive their First Communion.
The altar boys were then seen in the video, peering from behind the priest to take note of what was happening and then they appeared to quickly take cover.
Two armed officers were seen in the footage and they quickly took control of the situation and cleared any existing threats. An unidentified man urged parents over the loudspeaker to ‘get a hold of your child’ and exit the building.
“We did apprehend a young man, he is in custody, he is in police custody, calm down and just get next to your child and go slowly,” the speaker told the crowd over the loudspeaker.
The teen gunman, described by authorities as a 16-year-old white male, underwent interrogation by law enforcement and was taken to the Abbeville General Hospital Behavioral Unit for medical assessment, according to Abbeville Police Chief Mike Hardy, who informed of the developments in a Facebook post.
“The person was confronted by parishioners and escorted outside. Upon arrival, Officers arrested the suspect and placed him in custody. Officers with the Abbeville Police Department and Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office made a sweep through the church to ensure there was no additional threat and confirmed that no one was injured,” Hardy said.
The teen gunman is being charged with terrorising and two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile, according to the New York Post.
Abbeville is a small American town in the US state of Louisiana which has a population of roughly 11,000.
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