A man fatally shot a Catholic priest outside his parish rectory in Kansas on Thursday in an attack with no known motive, the authorities said.
The priest, Arul Carasala, 57, was found with gunshot wounds at around 3 p.m. by state troopers outside the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory in Seneca, Kan., according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The priest was brought to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
Shortly after, the authorities arrested Gary L. Hermesch, 66. On Friday, prosecutors charged Mr. Hermesch with first-degree murder, saying that the shooting was intentional and premeditated, according to court documents.
A motive was not immediately given for the shooting. Jason Belveal, a lawyer for Mr. Hermesch, declined to comment on Saturday.
“This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend,” Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City said on Facebook. He added, “Let us also pray for the perpetrator, that God may touch and transform his heart.”
Seneca is a town of about 2,000 people in northern Kansas, near the border with Nebraska. The authorities said Mr. Hermesch is from Tulsa, Okla., which is about 300 miles south of Seneca.
The Kansas City Star reported that Mr. Hermesch turned himself in at the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office, where his brother works as a dispatcher.
Mr. Hermesch grew up in Seneca, The Star said, before moving to Tulsa. He had grown angry with the Catholic Church in recent years, and wrote a number of letters to the editor of local newspapers criticizing the “the fake Catholic Church” for its modern teachings.
Raj “Arul” Balaswamy Carasala was born in Cuddapah, India, a city in the country’s southeast. According to an online biography, Father Carasala became the pastor of Saints Peter and Paul parish on July 15, 2011.
He was ordained in the Diocese of Cuddapah and moved in 2004 to Kansas, where he served in four different parishes before settling in Seneca.
Father Carasala became an American citizen on May 20, 2011, according to the biography. He maintained his ties to India, and believed that “the church is home wherever he is.”
Archbishop Naumann said Mass on Thursday evening in Father Carasala’s honor, according to social media posts.
“While we continue to mourn the loss of Father Arul, I pray that we will not lose hope. God is with us in our adversity,” Archbishop Naumann said. “He can bring good out of evil.”
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
