Death at Crystal Cathedral: Gunman Kills Self Inside L.A. Cathedral

[420inTN]

Dec 17, 9:14 AM (ET)

By LAURA WIDES

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) - A church employee opened fire inside the Crystal Cathedral as congregants prepared for a Christmas pageant, then barricaded himself in a bathroom for hours before shooting himself to death Friday as police tried to talk him into surrendering, authorities said.

No one else was hurt in the seven-hour standoff at the world-famous church, and children in a day-care center were rushed to safety when the man initially began shooting Thursday. The man, who apparently had had problems with depression in the past, shot himself just before 2 a.m.

"There was a dialogue, and then the officers heard the gunshot," Garden Grove police Lt. Paul Prince told The Associated Press. Officers immediately forced open a steel door separating them from the man, and found him dead, Prince said.

Police declined to identify the man except to say he was a full-time cathedral employee, a member of its choir and in his 50s. They said he had threatened to harm himself throughout the standoff.

more, full story here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041217/D871EJA80.html