Parishioners stopped a 16-year-old boy armed with a rifle as he tried to enter the back door of a church in Abbeville, Georgia.
A teenage boy armed with a rifle attempted to break into a church through the back door while a First Communion was being livestreamed.
The 16-year-old suspect tried to enter St Mary Magdalen Church around 10.30am on Saturday, according to the Abbeville Police Department in Louisiana.
A livestream shows Fr Nicholas Dupré leading a prayer at the altar during the service. About 48 minutes in, parishioners at the pews at the front of the church can be seen looking behind them.
Commotion sounds as a man in a suit goes up to Dupré whispers something. He then asks the room to recite Hail Mary with him.
Screams can be heard as about 60 children received their First Communion, the New York Post reported.
Clergy kneel down behind the communion table and altar boys run around behind the priest.
Two armed police officers step out and a man can be heard announcing: ‘Guys, just get a hold of your child, go slowly. We did apprehend a young man. He is in custody. He is in the police custody. Calm down and just get next to your child and go slowly.’
Parishioners confronted the suspect and escorted him outside, said the police department.
Arriving police officers arrested the suspect and along with deputies from the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office made a sweep around the church to make sure there was no threat and confirmed that one was injured.
The suspect was questioned at the police department headquarters with his parent present. He was then taken to Abbeville General Hospital Behavioral Unit for a medical evaluation.
He has been charged with terrorizing and two counts of a juvenile possessing a firearm.
Police Chief Mike Hardy thanked the clergy and parishioners ‘for their quick response and remaining calm throughout this matter’, as well as the FBI for being involved.
An investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on the crime is urged to contact the police department.
It happened a week after after a man pointed a gun at a pastor before being tackled down by a deacon during a Sunday service livestream at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. The suspect was found to have allegedly shot dead his cousin hours before trying to shoot the pastor.
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