Gunman Loose at Landmark Crystal Cathedral

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 17, 2004

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) - A gunman opened fire in the complex housing the world-famous Crystal Cathedral on Thursday, but no one was hit and children in a church day-care center were rushed to safety, police said.

A police SWAT team quickly surrounded the gleaming glass-and-steel cathedral and its surrounding buildings, and a police spokesman, possibly a disgruntled cathedral employee, said the gunman was holed up inside an office.

"Everyone's fine and we're just trying to contain him now and find out what the problem is," police Lt. Mike Hanfield told KCBS-TV. He said police officers had made telephone contact with the man and were trying to talk him into surrendering.

The man fired several shots with a handgun shortly before 5 p.m., less than two hours before the cathedral's annual ``Glory of Christmas'' holiday show was to begin, police said. Authorities didn't know what prompted the gunfire.

Hanfield described the man as ``distraught, disgruntled'' and said he may have been a temporary worker.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4678250,00.html