The Deacon's Bench
A parish employee shot himself twice inside St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church early Thursday in an attempt to kill himself, prompting officials to close an adjacent K-12 private school for a police investigation.
The employee, who was not identified, shot himself in the face and in his chest sometime after 6 a.m., according to Altamonte Springs police and a spokeswoman for Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando.
He survived and was transported to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, said Rob Pelton, Altamonte Springs Police spokesman.
Very few people were on the campus at that time, there were no children on the campus” at the time of the shooting, spokeswoman Carol Brinati said.
Brinati said that around 6 a.m. a church employee entered the church to prepare for daily mass when a man in the shadows asked the employee to go away.
The church employee called 911 and as police were arriving the man shot himself in the head and chest.
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