A man opened fire on a group of worshippers as they were leaving the church in central London. A seven-year-old is hospitalized in serious condition.
Newsroom (17/01/2023 10:15 AM, Gaudium Press) — After the end of Mass, as people were leaving St. Aloysius church in the London Borough of Euston, a man in a car fired several times at the faithful. The attack happened around 1 pm local time last January 14.
The shots hit a total of 6 people, including two children aged 7 and 12. The older girl was only lightly wounded and had already left the hospital. The seven-year-old is still in critical condition.
Besides the girls, four other women, 21, 41, 48 and 54 years old, were also injured. The police said that the 48-year-old woman could be left with sequelae because of her injuries, the other three ladies involved are not critical.
London police opened an inquiry to investigate the attack and said the shots were fired from a moving vehicle. The next day, January 15, a 22-year-old suspect was questioned and placed in pre-trial detention. He is suspected of attempted murder.
“They were very afraid…”
Father Jeremy Trood, who was celebrating Mass, told the BBC that he heard the shots and then saw people running inside the church.
They were very frightened, people took shelter in the church until the police said they could come out, but some of them were so frightened that they had to wait a while before they regained their confidence and came out,” said Father Trood. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, described the incident as “deeply painful.
Many of the faithful who were in front of the church came from Colombia to attend the funeral Mass for Fresia Calderon, 50 and her daughter Sara Sanchez, who died just 25 days after her mother, at the age of 20. The faithful were in front of the church for a symbolic act of releasing two white doves when they were attacked. (FM)
Compiled by Donna Smolders
