4 Choir Members Stabbed During New Mexico Church Service
Witnesses said the suspect charged choir during their closing hymns.
April 28, 2013— -- Four members of an Albuquerque church choir were stabbed today when a man rushed them at the end of mass, police said.
Witnesses at the 11 a.m. mass at St. Jude Thaddeus Church said the choir had begun their closing hymns when a man jumped over several pews, shouting "Fake preacher!" ABC News' Albuquerque affiliate KOAT reported.
He then walked over to the choir area and began stabbing members, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release.
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Police said all four victims sustained non-life threatening injuries and were being treated at a local hospital.
An off-duty police officer and several others subdued the attacker until police arrived, Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan said in a statement.
He said the attacker, who police have not identified, was a man in his early 20s. It was not believed he was a parishioner of the church, police said.
Sheehan said it was the first time in his 30 year career he had experienced "anything like this."
"I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again," he said.
Sheehan said an average of 4,000 parishioners attend Sunday services at the church.
ABC News' Clayton Sandell contributed to this report.
