4 people stabbed at US church – police

A man is vaccinated during a day of the vaccination campaign against Influenza A H1N1 Virus (swine flu) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 28, 2011. A new outbreak of H1N1 in northern Mexico, which left four dead in the past week, originated in the southern United States, the Chihuahua state governor said Monday. Mexican authorities have started a vaccination campaign in northern Chihuahua and ruled out the risk of an emergency on a similar scale to 2009, when Mexico raised the first H1N1 alert. Swine flu — so named because it was first identified in pigs — has killed some 18,500 people since emerging in April 2009, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). AFP/JESUS ALCAZAR

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Police said a 24-year-old man stabbed four people at a Catholic church in New Mexico as a Sunday mass was nearing its end.

Police spokesman Robert Gibbs said Lawrence Capener jumped over several pews at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church around noon Sunday and walked up to the choir area where he began his attack.

The injuries to the four church-goers weren’t life-threatening. All four were being treated at hospitals.

An off-duty police officer and others at the church subdued Capener and held him down until police arrived.

Some of those who were stabbed were members of the choir.

Gibbs said Capener is now being interviewed by police and is expected to face felony charges.

It’s not yet known whether Capener has an attorney.

Gibbs said investigators didn’t yet know the motive for the stabbings, whether Capener had ties to the victims or whether he regularly attended the church.

Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan released a statement saying he was saddened by the attack.

“I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again,” Sheehan said.

The church didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment on Sunday afternoon.