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Man Attacks Choir Members in New Mexico Church

A CNN report told of an attack that took place this past weekend in the 3,000-member St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in which a 24-year-old man lunged at the choir as they were ending the service and stabbed four of its members. Some were knifed multiple times before congregants could wrestle the suspect to the ground and hold him until police arrived.

The suspect, Lawrence Capener, apparently was yelling, “Fake preacher!” as he attacked the choir. A choir member, Brenda King, described the man as “young” with “a very scary look in his eyes — fury, anger, hatred … he had a knife and was attacking our soloist, and our flutist tried to protect him and got stabbed also.”

Local police did not know at first what prompted the attack, but St. Jude Thaddeus’ pastor, Rev. John Daniel, said Capener’s mother was “very active” in the parish, serving as a Eucharistic minister. According to Fox News, he was charged with three counts of aggravated battery and held on $75,000 bail. None of the injuries were life-threatening and all victims are expected to recover.

Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan stated he was saddened by the attack. “This is the first time in my 30 years serving as archbishop in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and as bishop of Lubbock, that anything like this has occurred,” Sheehan said. “I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again.”