Masked gunmen rob early-morning churchgoers in Florida parish

Published: 2004-11-23

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CNS) -- Police increased patrols throughout Fort Lauderdale's places of worship and CrimeStoppers offered a reward of up to $1,000 after masked gunmen entered St. Anthony Catholic Church Nov. 22 and threatened and robbed parishioners waiting for Mass to begin. "This is an outrage. I cannot begin to understand what these two men were thinking," said Mary Ross Agosta, Miami archdiocesan director of communications. Eleven people were inside the church, in Fort Lauderdale's oldest parish, waiting for 6:30 a.m. weekday Mass when two men with guns came running down the aisle, telling them to hand over their wallets. No one was hurt but a couple of parishioners were knocked down as they tried to flee and had guns pointed at their heads while the robbers took their wallets. The robbers, described only as black males in their teens or early 20s who were wearing ski masks, were gone before police arrived.

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