Police in Winona outside the Methodist Church where a pastor was killed on January 3, 2021. -
Zak Wellerman / AP / SIPA
Even if the act may seem symbolic, the city sheriff has however ruled out, at this stage, any ideological motivation for the crime.
A pastor was killed and a person injured Sunday in a Methodist church in Winona, a village in Texas, said the same sheriff, Larry Smith, adding that a suspect had been arrested.
The suspect hiding in the toilet
The drama unfolded just before the service, when the pastor, who had just arrived with his wife and two other people, discovered an intruder in his church, Larry Smith explained to the cameras of the local channel KLTV.
“When he opened the bathroom door, he found himself face to face with a man who was hiding in his church,” he said.
This intruder, wanted after a shooting that occurred in the night, then seized the weapon of the pastor and shot him dead.
He then injured another person before fleeing with his victim's car.
He was arrested after a chase.
Wounded in the hand, he was hospitalized, specified the sheriff.
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