Police have said that several people, including a pastor, have been treated for non-life threatening injuries after a knife-wielding attacker stormed into a Grace Covenant Church in Chantilly, Virginia.
Fairfax County police said they were alerted of an alleged stabbing at the church around 3.00 pm on Saturday afternoon.
The attacker is said to have charged on the church’s pastor which was reportedly conducting a bible study group at the time. Police said that Fairfax County police chief Edwin C. Roessler, who was present at the event, intervened, helping to subdue the suspect.
Officers responded around 3pm for a reported stabbing at Grove Covenant Church, 4600 Brookfield Corp Dr Chantilly. Preliminarily, 2 people stabbed- both non-life threatening. FCPD Chief Roessler was on-scene and helped subdue suspect who was arrested. More info to follow. #FCPDpic.twitter.com/fE1e5Xisuu
Local media reported that Roessler was among those who have been hurt as a result of the incident. The Washington Post reported, citing police, that the chief escaped relatively uncathed, without suffering any stab wounds, but was “scratched and perhaps bitten.”
Chantilly church stabbing:@FairfaxCountyPD taking pictures of the car parked at the entrance of Grace Covenant Church. Suspect in custody. Pastor and other person who stepped in to help both recovering at hospital and expected to be okay. @wusa9pic.twitter.com/tsLolHNRbc
The attack has sparked a massive police response, with witnesses reporting on Twitter that they saw police helicopters and several ambulances rushing towards the scene.
Massive police/fire/chopper presence near the Grace Covenant Church in Chantilly VA. Avoid area pic.twitter.com/sXV9iiTOIz
The motive behind the stabbing is so far unknown.
Senior pastor of the church, Brett Fuller, also serves as a chaplain to the Washington Redskins. The team has recently announced they would retire their logo and change the name after it has come under heightened scrutiny amid mounting racial tensions gripping the US.
Chrisitan sites across the country have been increasingly targeted, mostly, in vandalism attacks, since the Black Lives Matter protests sprang up in late May. The movement, which began as a peaceful protest against police brutality, has seen activists toppling monuments to historical figures, ranging from confederate generals to former US presidents.
This Wednesday, a Catholic church in Connecticut was defaced with anarchist and satanic symbols, while the day prior a statue of Jesus was found decapitated in the courtyard of a Cathloic church in Florida, in what the Archdiocese of Miami said was mostly likely a “hate crime.”
While the Black Lives Matter movement has mostly been focused on tearing down statues to the figures, who in some or other way contributed to slavery, some radical elements within the group, such as racial activist Shaun King, has argued that murals, statues and other depictions of Jesus as a white European should be done away with as well.
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