Parishioners at a Catholic church in Louisiana confronted an armed teenager who tried to enter a service where around 60 children were gathered for their First Communion. Police said the 16-year-old tried to enter St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, around 20 miles south of Lafayette, through a back door during the Saturday morning service, NBC News reports. "The person was confronted by parishioners and escorted outside," the police department said in a Facebook post. "Upon arrival, Officers arrested the suspect and placed him in custody."
The service was being live-streamed at the time of the incident. Video shows a man approach the Rev. Nicholas Dupre and whisper in his ear, the Advocate reports. Dupre told parishioners to sit and started praying the Hail Mary. Within around a minute, screaming could be heard and Dupre and other clergy members ducked behind the Communion table. Over a speaker, an officer said: "We did apprehend a young man. He is in custody. Calm down and get next to your child and just go slowly." Police said that after the teen was in custody, officers "made a sweep through the church to ensure there was no additional threat and confirmed that no one was injured."
The 16-year-old was dressed all in black and was armed with a rifle, KADN reports. Police said he was taken to the Abbeville General Hospital Behavioral Unit for a medical evaluation and will face charges of terrorizing the church and two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile. Abbeville Police Chief Mike Hardy said the teen's girlfriend was inside the church and he had planned to intimidate parishioners before running away to Texas with the girl, the Advocate reports. "I don't think his goal was to shoot people," the chief said. "He was there to intimidate somebody." (More Louisiana stories.)
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