DALLAS: One man has died after he and three others were stabbed during a church service at a private home in Texas, police said Thursday.
As many as 20 people were in the home Wednesday night when an apparent member of the congregation pulled a knife and stabbed four men, said Corpus Christi police Lt. Chris Hooper. He said a 61-year-old man later died of his injuries, while the church’s 54-year-old pastor was hospitalized in serious condition.
Police said late Wednesday that a band member was stabbed in the neck and the pastor was stabbed in his chest, and both men were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said the other two victims suffered puncture wounds — one to his hand and the other to his arm — while trying to get the suspect away from the pastor.
Hooper declined to identify the victims on Thursday, but the Nueces County medical examiner’s office identified the man who died as Frank Castillo. No other details were immediately released.
The suspect, 28-year-old Marco Antonio Moreno, immediately surrendered to congregants after the stabbing, Hooper said. Moreno was being held at the Nueces County jail on Thursday on charges of murder and aggravated assault.
“The officers at the scene suspect there is a mental health issue with the offender,” said Hooper, who noted that Moreno has an “alcohol- and drug-related history” with police.
Jail records don’t yet indicate whether Moreno has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported late Wednesday that the incident occurred about 7 p.m. at a nondenominational service held by Kingdom Acts Ministries International. Police in the Gulf Coast city were called to the home and found the pastor stabbed in the chest. Police Lt. Jay Clement told the newspaper it wasn’t clear what led to the attack.
Those attending services at the home had been gathering there each day as part of a “40-day pledge,” Clement said, adding that witnesses said the suspect was a parishioner.
In November, a gunman fatally shot more than two dozen worshippers at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators have said that attack appeared to stem from a domestic dispute.
1 dead, 3 wounded after stabbing at Texas church service
1 dead, 3 wounded after stabbing at Texas church service
Russia condemns Qaddafi’s son killing, wants ‘thorough investigation’
- In 2021, prosecutors in Libya issued an arrest warrant for Seif Al-Islam over suspected ties to the Russian mercenary Wagner group, according to the BBC
MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday condemned the killing of Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, son of slain Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, and called for a thorough probe into his death.
“We strongly condemn this crime. We hope a thorough investigation will be conducted and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
A lawyer who had been representing Seif Al-Islam told AFP the ex-leader’s son was killed by four unidentified attackers who stormed his house on Tuesday.
Libyan prosecutors said Wednesday they were investigating the killing and that forensic experts had been dispatched to Zintan in northwest Libya, where he was shot dead.
The 53-year-old had been seen by some as a potential successor to his father, who was toppled and killed in 2011 after a NATO-led military intervention.
In 2021, prosecutors in Libya issued an arrest warrant for Seif Al-Islam over suspected ties to the Russian mercenary Wagner group, according to the BBC. Wagner has since been disbanded and replaced with the state-backed Africa Corps.
He was suspected of having strong links with Russia.
