An unhoused man is in police custody after entering a church and allegedly stabbing another man. Jarod A. Hill faces charges of first degree assault and armed criminal action following an incident at First Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police were called to the church shortly after 11 a.m. on Sunday (Oct. 13), and officers entered the church to encounter a man who had a stab wound on his chest and Hill being physically restrained by several other church members.
While Hill was being detained by police, he also attempted to grab an officer’s weapon, according to KCTV.
Witnesses said that Hill had been living in a tent on the church property for a couple of days. He became enraged on Sunday when he discovered that someone had spray-painted his tent. He entered the church to see if video of the vandalism had been captured by the church’s security cameras.
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The victim assisted Hill, giving him food, according to The Kansas City Star. But after the victim told Hill that the cameras did not capture the incident, Hill became more angry, calling the victim a liar. Hill was in apparent psychological distress, blaming the vandalism on “the Masons” and a former romantic partner.
Later, when the victim was looking up directions to a laundromat for Hill, Hill allegedly put him in a headlock and brandished a knife.
Hill allegedly stabbed the victim in the chest before being restrained by other church members.
A church member with medical experience reportedly tended to the victim before emergency personnel arrived roughly 10 minutes later.
The church members who restrained Hill were part of the church’s emergency response team, which provides security and response to crisis situations.
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“We try to be open, but we do try to be cautious,” Dr. Dale Jones, the church’s executive pastor of finance and administration, told KCTV. “That’s why we have these teams.”
