Catholic priest held at gunpoint during man's confession

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- A Catholic priest says he was confronted with a gun during a man's confession at his church in Ohio.

"Did he threaten you with the gun?" the 911 operator asked.

"He just had it pointed at me the whole time. He didn't say, 'I'm going to kill you.' He didn't say, 'I'm going to shoot you.' He just had it. I've never done confession with somebody pointing a gun at me the whole time," the victim said.

The suspect is described as a white man in his late 20s with pale skin and black shoulder-length hair parted in the center. His left nostril was pierced, and he has a tattoo of a cross on his left arm, WEWS-TV reports.

Police say it was Saturday afternoon, June 11, when the suspect walked into Saint Christopher Catholic Church in Rocky River, Ohio, for confession. And as soon as it began, the priest described what happened next.

"So he just came in, you know, to go to confession and before he sat down, he pulled this gun out from behind his back, his pants or something. So I did confession at gunpoint then," the priest said.

Police advised clergy in the Cleveland metropolitan area to be aware of their personal safety and aware of practical crime prevention methods.