MADRID—Spanish officials said they were looking into a suspected "terrorist" event after a man with a machete assaulted several people at two churches in the southern port city of Algeciras, killing at least one person.
A city official said the individual attacked pastors at two distinct churches, San Isidro and Nuestra Senora de La Palma, some 300 meters (1,000 feet) apart, just after 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening in downtown Algeciras.
Police stated the assailant had been apprehended, and a police source provided video of two cops bringing a guy in handcuffs wearing a hooded sports top through a police station. The police have not revealed his name or nationality.
Diego Valencia, a sacristan at the Nuestra Senora de La Palma church, was murdered, while Antonio Rodriguez, the titular priest of the parish church of San Isidro, was among the injured and is in critical condition, according to an Algeciras city spokeswoman.
An unknown number of others were also hurt.
According to police, the man initially entered the San Isidro church and assaulted Rodriguez. According to the Algeciras Salesians, Rodriguez, 74, was attacked while celebrating Eucharist.
The assailant then entered the Nuestra Senora de La Palma church, causing property damage before hitting Valencia, who escaped the church but was pursued by the suspect, who inflicted severe, deadly injuries on him outside, according to police.
Juan Jose Marina, the parish priest of Nuestra Senora de La Palma, told radio SER that the suspect headed directly for Valencia after the mass ended, implying that he mistook Valencia for the priest.
“Possibly, this death was meant for me and it found him instead,” said a tearful Marina.
On his Twitter account, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez extended his sympathies to the victims of the "awful assault," while Francisco Garcia, secretary general of Spain's Episcopal Conference, expressed "deep anguish" upon hearing the news.
"These are sad times of anguish; we are united by the pain of the victims' families and the Cadiz Diocese," he tweeted.
Algeciras Mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce has proclaimed Thursday a day of mourning in the city, with a gathering planned outside Nuestra Senora de La Palma church at noon.
Authorities said two people were murdered and numerous others were injured earlier on Wednesday after a 33-year-old Palestinian man attacked them with a knife on a regional train moving between Kiel and Hamburg in northern Germany.
