Video: Nun says man threatened to kill her while she prayed in church
NEW YORK — The NYPD is questioning a 45-year-old man after someone threatened to kill a New York City nun while she prayed inside her church, reports CBS New York.
A person of interest with 40 prior arrests was brought in for questioning after someone recognized him from surveillance video.
Investigators say Sister Maria Amador's prayers were interrupted and her life threatened Wednesday by a man inside the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Brooklyn.
"I thought this is my last day," Sister Maria Amador told the station. "Thank God I am safe and I could run away."
Surveillance video shows a shirtless man heading into the church. He is then seen approaching Sister Amador, who is Mother Superior of her convent, as she sits by herself at a pew.
Investigators say as he got closer, he said, "I don't believe in this because you don't help poor people."
When the nun reportedly did not respond out of fear, he became agitated. As Sister Amador looked around for help, she spotted a woman in another pew.
"I started to look at the woman trying to say, 'OK, I need help,'" she said. "But he said, 'She can't help you and I am going to kill you.'"
That's when the nun took off running towards the altar.
"I started to scream and the organist was practicing at that time," she said.
The suspect left. Sister Amador says she is extending her compassion to him.
"I can say, 'OK, I forgive you,'" she said. "I think maybe he is sick, maybe he needs something."
The church will stay open to the public as usual, but police were stationed outside Thursday. The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.