Louisiana Teen Attempts Shooting at First Holy Communion

(TargetDailyNews.com) – Thankfully, no one was killed or injured on May 11th when a teenage boy walked into an Abbeville, Louisiana church with a gun. The priest was celebrating a Mass of First Communion for dozens of young people when a “suspicious person” came into the church of St. Mary Magdalen through the back entrance during the service.

Congregants were quick on the draw, approaching the unidentified teen and taking him outside while police were called. At least 60 children were inside with their parents as they waited to take their first Communion. When cops showed up they immediately arrested the teen and took him to the station. Police interviewed the boy with his parents present, and then sent him to the psychiatric unit of a local hospital for treatment.

A woman in the pews spotted the teen and described him as “suspiciously dressed and armed,” with a handgun visible on his hip, according to the Rev. Louis J. Richard. In a statement released two days after the incident, Richard said the boy was “disturbed” and had come to St. Mary Magdalen specifically to kill a priest.

Video circulating online from the church depicts another priest, Father Nicholas DuPré, conducting the service when someone walked up to the altar and spoke quietly into his ear. Those sitting in the pews near the front can be seen turning around to view the back of the church where the would-be gunman had entered.

Father DuPré instructed those present to stay seated and pray the Hail Mary while several men made their way toward the teen in the back. After the would-be gunman was taken outside and arrested, police went back through the church to make sure there were no accomplices and no further danger.

Understandably, adults present began to panic and rise out of the pews while a cop wearing a bulletproof vest walked through the church. He reassured the parishioners that they had taken the young man into custody and that the congregation was no longer in danger.

There is no word yet on whether the 16-year-old will be charged with any crimes.