WGNO

‘He just had it pointed at me’ Priest held at gunpoint during confession

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — A Catholic priest says he was confronted with a gun during a man’s confession at an Ohio church over the weekend.

“He just had it pointed at me the whole time,” the priest told WEWS. “He didn’t say I’m going to kill you. He didn’t say I’m going to shoot you. He just had it. I’ve never done confession with somebody pointing a gun at me the whole time.”

Police say the suspect walked into Saint Christopher Catholic Church Saturday afternoon (June 11) for confession. As soon as it began, the priest told them the suspect pulled out the weapon.

“He just came in, you know, to go to confession and before he sat down, he pulled this gun out from behind his back, his pants or something. So I did confession at gunpoint then,” he said.

The suspect is described as a white man in his late 20s with pale skin and shoulder-length black hair parted in the center. His left nostril pierced and he has a tattoo of a cross on his left arm.

Police advised clergy in the Cleveland metropolitan area to be aware of their personal safety and aware of practical crime prevention methods.

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