Church Scare

Sunday morning, as we were making our way out of St. Mary Magdalene's Church after the 9 a.m. mass, a police officer greeted us in the foyer.

It was quite a startling sight, seeing the word "POLICE" on his stocking cap as he blocked the door at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Did anyone hear someone running through the church making threats?," he asked.

Dad said he didn't and walked out. Mom, walking a few feet behind me, heard the officer repeat his question. A woman walking near Mom told the officer a man was standing outside the church threatening people before Mass. The officer asked the woman to stick around.

So as Mom came out to tell Dad what she heard, Dad and the other girls were already staring at the five police cruisers parked in front of the church. It appeared they had "expedited" to the scene, since two were facing the wrong way on a one-way street.

As you can imagine - given the circumstances of the mall shooting at Westroads on Wednesday - it was downright scary. We hustled to the Suburban as quickly as possible.

An hour or so later, Mom was online and read the account of a shooting in Colorado. There was no mention of the threat incident at our church by the media.