Virginia Man Stabs Pastor to Death at Religious Service in Maryland
A man has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder after he stabbed a pastor to death and attacked his wife at a Maryland church Sunday night.
The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Song Su Kim of Falls Church, Virginia, reports CBS Baltimore. Officials at the Frederick County sheriff's office said that Kim began stabbing the two South Korean missionaries after he was asked to take a seat at a religious retreat in Urbana, near Sugarloaf Mountain.
The stabbing occurred at the Anna Prayer Counseling and Retreat Center in Frederick County towards the end of the service. As a result, the 62-year-old man was killed, while his 57-year-old wife was hospitalized for serious injuries.
"There was a pretty gruesome scene, pretty bloody," said Sheriff Chuck Jenkins of Frederick County, reports Fox News. "The stab and slashing injuries were pretty severe."
After the stabbing, Jenkins said Kim called 911 and told authorities that he was "waiting to be arrested." Once in custody, Kim was cooperating with authorities, Jenkins said.
According to court papers filed Monday, Kim told officials that he had felt disrespected by fellow Koreans for years and had hit a breaking point, reports The Washington Post. The U.S. citizen of Korean descent also told investigators that he wanted to "invade a Korean" because of the way Koreans treated him.
Authorities said they think Kim -- who had been staying at the retreat center for about five days before the incident -- used a knife that he grabbed from the kitchen. When the husband asked Kim to sit down, Kim began stabbing, according to court papers. Kim then attacked the man's wife when she tried to help her husband.
The couple, both pastors from South Korea, were visiting the U.S. on a pilgrimage and were volunteering as cooks at the retreat, Frederick County Deputy State's Attorney Nanci Hamm said.
The victims' names had not been released as of Monday afternoon.
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