Phoenix church attack leaves one priest dead, one injured
| PHOENIX
One priest was shot and killed and another was wounded in an聽attack聽at a Catholic聽church聽in downtownPhoenix, police said.
Sgt. Steve Martos said police received a call about a burglary at the Mother of Mercy Mission near the state Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday. Responding officers found two priests badly injured.
According to Martos, one of the priests had been shot and died at the hospital. The other priest is hospitalized in critical condition with unspecified injuries, he said. According to Martos, the injured 56-year-old priest was able to call 911 and direct authorities to the聽church.
The聽attack聽occurred in the rectory. Investigators are still trying to determine if robbery was a motive, Martos said. Police are also unsure how many聽attackers聽were involved. They planned to discuss the聽attack聽at a news conference at 11 a.m. local time.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of聽Phoenix聽on Thursday identified the slain priest as the Rev. Kenneth Walker and the injured priest as the Rev. Joseph Terra.
Terra and Walker served as pastor and assistant pastor, respectively, according to the聽church聽website. They both belonged to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.聽Church聽officials say Walker was 29 years old and asked for prayers for his family, as well as for "the health and complete recovery" of Terra.
Martos says police found a car they were seeking in connection with the聽attack. He says the car was empty when it was located about four blocks north of the聽church.
"When you're talking about individuals who are coming into a location like this to a聽church聽facility, commit a crime like this against individuals who are victims like this one can only imagine what they were likely to do," Martos told KTVK-TV.
Rorate Caeli, an online blog widely read in Vatican circles, said Walker was born in upstate New York near Poughkeepsie. He was the middle child among a family of 11 kids. He was ordained in May 2012.
