Seneca, Kansas, is grieving the loss of Father Arul Carasala, who was fatally shot outside Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Thursday. Authorities arrested Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Officers found Father Carasala, 57, with multiple gunshot wounds outside the rectory. He was rushed to a hospital but did not survive. The motive remains unknown.
Kris Anderson, the parish’s director of religious education, told the AP on Thursday through tears that she knew few details. “From what we know, an older man walked up to him (Carasala) and shot him three times,” she said.
Father Carasala, originally from India, had served in Kansas since 2004 and became a U.S. citizen in 2011. Parishioners are devastated, remembering him as a beloved leader and friend.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann assured the community there is no further threat, calling the tragedy a “senseless act of violence.”
