Cádiz (EFE) a sacristan and injured four people, including a Salesian priest.
A mother and daughter who ran into him on the street, walking with a large machete, were so terrified to see him that they decided to take refuge in the Church of San Isidro, where at that time the Salesian priest Antonio Rodríguez, from 74 years old, celebrated the Eucharist at seven in the evening.
Attack on the church of San Isidro
But the man entered the church, and passed close to them shouting. The two women managed to flee while listening to how the people who had stayed inside began to scream, terrified as the individual stabbed the priest, according to testimonies collected by EFE.
Another woman who was at mass at the time and who had just received communion saw the man enter the church shouting: “by Allah, by Allah, that we not move.”
Although everyone stood still, she, along with two other women, thought “either we leave, or he catches us here” and then they decided to run away from the temple to take refuge in a nearby hairdresser’s, from which they called the Police.
As they fled, they also heard the screams of horror from the people who were in the church.
One dead and three injured in Nuestra Señora de La Palma
After leaving the priest Antonio Rodríguez, 74, wounded, the attacker went to the Church of Our Lady of La Palma, in the central Plaza Alta de Algeciras.
Along the way, he also raised alarm among the neighbors who saw him walking with a gun in his hand.
He entered the church and, after causing various damage, attacked the sacristan Diego Valencia, who managed to leave the church. Outside of him he was hit by the attacker, who inflicted fatal stab wounds on him.
Three other people have been injured, although their condition is unknown at the moment.
Later, the man went to the Chapel of Europe, a temple located opposite the previous one, and pounded on the door, but since the church was closed, he left.
There had been several calls that had alerted the Police to the presence of the attacker, who was finally arrested in the vicinity of the Plaza Alta, where he had left the sacristan dead.
The priest Antonio Rodríguez is out of danger after having undergone surgery.
This was stated by the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, who explained that the priest is “out of danger” and that he has already “come out of the operating room” at the Punta de Europa hospital, to which he was transferred in an ambulance.
The mayor maintains that “if all goes well, in the next few hours he could even be discharged.”
a lone wolf
The man arrested this Wednesday as the alleged perpetrator of the death of a sacristan and seriously injuring a priest in the town of Algeciras (Cádiz) is Yasin Kanza, of Moroccan nationality and about 40 years old, who armed with a large machete He has entered several township churches and he could be a lone wolf.
This has been indicated to EFE by sources close to the investigation, who do not rule out that it is a lone actor and, consequently, an attack for jihadist purposes, although this point is pending the investigation by the National Police, which will be has taken charge of the investigations.
The same sources have indicated to EFE that at the time of the events the alleged perpetrator was wearing a black djellaba, a symbol that his intention was not to immolate himself, since if he wanted to do so he would wear white.
Proceedings are opened as a possible crime of terrorism
The Central Court of Instruction 6 of the National Court, acting as a guard, has opened proceedings for a possible crime of terrorism in relation to the stabbings that occurred this Wednesday in Algeciras.
