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| A sign and flowers are left by a parishioner at the St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Albuquerque Monday, April 29, 2013, a day after a man stabbed several churchgoers Sunday as Mass was ending. Police say four parishioners were injured, including church choir director Adam Alvarez, but none have life-threatening injuries. Lawrence Capener, 24, is charged with three counts with aggravated battery and is being held on $75,000 bail. |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
(AP) -- Lawrence Capener was shaking hands with his fellow
churchgoers at Sunday Mass, exchanging the traditional peace offerings
when some people next to him noticed something strange - his hands were
quite sweaty and clammy. Then, as the choir began singing a hymn to wrap
up Mass, the man bolted from his pew, ran to the choir area and started
stabbing the choir leader and others.
Parishioners
screamed and ran for cover and others, including the church flutist,
tried to subdue him. Police said the assailant thought the choir members
were members of a secret society.
The episode
caused panic among church members such as 12-year-old Jordan Schalow
and his mother, Valerie, who had just heard the pastor read a Gospel
message about the importance of loving everyone and had the recent
bombing in Boston on their mind.
Jordan had told his mom, "Thank God. I'm in church and nothing bad is going to happen here."
Valerie
Schalow said her husband, Gerald, sat next to Capener during services
at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church and had noticed him acting
nervously. When he shook Capener's hand, she said her husband found them
to be very sweaty. "My husband even had to go wash his hands after
that," Schalow said.
The random and violent
attack by the knife-wielding Capener, 24, sparked confusion and fear in
the Albuquerque Westside church as the choir started singing "Take My
Hand, Precious Lord."
According to a criminal
complaint released Monday, Capener vaulted over pews and lashed out at
choir director Adam Alvarez, who had his back toward him.
"I
saw what was happening and I yelled at my husband," said Schalow, who
ran out of the church with her three children. "The guy had been acting
strange during Mass."
The complaint said
church flutist Gerald Madrid saw Alvarez being attacked and attempted to
"bear hug" Capener to try and stop him. Madrid was then stabbed five
times in his back by Capener, authorities said.
"I instinctively just dropped my flute and I rushed the guy," Madrid said. "I never saw a knife, but I just rushed him."
At least two others were injured in the attack, police said.
Capener
later told police that he was "99 percent sure Alvarez was a mason" and
that he thought Alvarez was involved in a conspiracy.
He
told the investigator that Masons are a group involved "in a conspiracy
that is far more reaching than I could or would believe."
Capener,
whose mother is active in the church, said he stabbed the others who
tried to subdue him because he thought they might be Masons, too.
Among
those to subdue Capener was off-duty Albuquerque Fire Department Lt.
Greg Aragon, who then helped treat patients after the attack,
authorities said. He was also stabbed in the attack and was later
treated at a hospital and released.
The affidavit said Capener apologized for stabbing the others after he was read his rights and agreed to speak to police.
Masons
are a fraternal group involved in charity and other community
activities, but many of their rituals and symbols are secret.
Capener was charged on three counts of aggravated battery and ordered held on $250,000 bail.
St.
Jude Thaddeus' pastor, the Rev. John Daniel, said Capener's mother was
"very active" in the parish and serves as a Eucharistic minister there.
"He was here occasionally but not very often," Daniel said.
Daniel
said that Capener had just graduated from a community college and
appeared to be doing well after getting a job. "I think he's been
struggling for a while, maybe with some (mental) health issues," Daniel
said.
Both Alvarez and Madrid remained
hospitalized Monday and their families said the men were recovering from
wounds that were described as not life-threatening.
Services
at the 3,000-member church resumed Monday. Parishioners stopped to
leave flowers, notes and candles outside the church and at the church's
shrine dedicated to St. Jude, the church's namesake and the Catholic
Patron Saint of "lost causes."
In Mass
homilies throughout the day, Daniel said he compared St. Catherine of
Siena, who worked for peace in 14th century Italy, with the power of
forgiveness.
Robynn Madrid, whose husband
Gerald Madrid was recovering from the attack, said despite the pain
Capener caused, she's already forgiven him. "We're praying for his
family," she said.
Spanish choir member
Richard Aragon said he, too, is trying to show compassion and
forgiveness, even though he had trouble sleeping the night after the
stabbing. Aragon was preparing for the upcoming Spanish services when
the attack began.
"There's nothing you can do.
There's obviously something...he's touched or something," Aragon said.
"It already happened. It's too late."
