MADRID, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Spanish authorities said they were investigating what they called a possible “terrorist” incident after a man with a machete attacked several people at two churches in the southern port city of Algeciras. country, and kill at least one person.
The man attacked clerics at two different churches, San Isidro and Nuestra Señora de La Palma, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) apart, shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday in downtown Algeciras, a city spokesman said. A source at the Madrid Superior Court of Justice said the incident was being investigated as terrorism.
Police said the attacker had been arrested, and a police source shared footage showing two officers escorting a man wearing a hoodie and handcuffed through a police station. Police have not released details of his name or nationality. Local media, including the newspaper El País, said he was a 25-year-old Moroccan.
The man who died was Diego Valencia, sacristan of the church of Nuestra Señora de La Palma, while the head priest of the parish of San Isidro, Antonio Rodríguez, was among the injured and is in serious condition, said the spokesman for the Algeciras city. .
An unknown number of people were also injured. The newspaper El Mundo reported that four people were injured in the attack.
Police said the suspect entered the San Isidro church first and attacked Rodríguez. A statement from the Salesians of Algeciras said that Rodríguez, 74, was celebrating the Eucharist when he was attacked.
[1/3] People gather next to a funeral vehicle at the scene of a stabbing at a church in Algeciras, Spain, on January 25, 2023 in this screenshot from a video. FORTA/via REUTERS/Handout via REUTERS
The assailant then entered the Nuestra Señora de La Palma church, where he damaged property before attacking Valencia, who fled the church but was pursued by the suspect, who inflicted further fatal injuries on him outside, police said in a release.
The parish priest of Nuestra Señora de La Palma, Juan José Marina, told SER network that the suspect headed directly for Valencia after mass ended, suggesting that he may have believed Valencia was the priest.
“Possibly, this death was meant for me and found him,” Marina said through tears.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, expressed his condolences to the victims of the “terrible attack” on his Twitter account, while the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Spain, Francisco García, expressed his “great pain” upon learning of the News.
“These are sad moments of suffering, we are united by the pain of the relatives of the victims and that of the Diocese of Cádiz,” he said on Twitter.
José Ignacio Landaluce, mayor of Algeciras, has declared a day of mourning in the city for Thursday and a rally in front of the church of Nuestra Señora de La Palma at noon.
Earlier on Wednesday, two people were killed and several others were injured when a 33-year-old stateless Palestinian attacked them with a knife on a regional train traveling between Kiel and Hamburg in northern Germany, authorities said.
Reporting by David Latona, Belén Carreño and Aislinn Laing; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
