A man in his 30s was arrested after entering an evangelical church armed and threatening worshippers there. He was eventually captured by the police and the gun was found to be a replica toy. The incident occurred this weekend in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe, during a ceremony that was held at the headquarters of the Argentine Evangelical Missionary Church (IEMA). It all began when the man broke into the religious ceremony at the headquarters located on Boulevard Oroño and February 27 and threatened everyone present until he advanced and went up to the stage where the pastor was giving a message to her faithful. According to some witnesses, the subject “suffered from mystical delusions.”
The moment of threats captured by Canal Luz
There were about three thousand people inside the temple at that time. After a few minutes of tension and fright, he was reduced by a group of temple attendees and handed over to the police. It was soon found that he had a replica firearm in his possession. Pastor Pablo Silvestri, the IEMA’s top leader in Rosario, remarked in radio statements that the whole incident caused “a very strong impact and at the time it was difficult to digest what happened, but thank God it was nothing more than a scare.” At first he did not give the impression of anything to suspect, but soon he began to accelerate the steps and thus reached the stage. When they wanted to stop him, the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at those who tried to reach him. And he went straight to where my mother is,” the pastor said. At that time, Mabel Silvestri, founder and director of the Canal Luz, gave her message of faith to the faithful, and what was a moment of reflection for believers. Part of the incident came to be seen by the transmission that at that time was made by the Light channel.
The pastor claimed that the protagonist was “a man in his 30s, who was arrested on the spot, and who was in the midst of a mystical delirium.” According to sources close to the file, the suspect was not housed in a cell: he is hospitalized in a hospital in Rosario, in an apparent mental health crisis.” As he said, he simply intended to give a message, and he chose that mode to do it,” said Silvestri, who thanked “the brothers who acted in a very heroic way, because until it is known that the weapon is a toy, it is not easy at all.”
