Sounds of shattering glass startled the Rev. Damian Zuerlein from his sleep early Sunday.
The priest opened his bedroom door to find a woman armed with "a filet knife" at the bottom of the stairs destroying everything that she could lay her hands upon.
Zuerlein
"I asked who was there, and this woman at the bottom of the stairs said, 'I don't intend to do you any harm, but I'm going to do terrible things,' " Zuerlein said Monday. "My guess is that she didn't know anyone was in the house when she broke in, but she was there to cause destruction."
The 29-year-old woman entered the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church near 10th and William Streets around 6 a.m. by breaking a window. An Omaha police spokesman said the woman, who did not get into the church itself, was taken to a hospital for an evaluation about 10 a.m.
Zuerlein said that after talking to the enraged woman, who he did not know, he locked his second-floor bedroom door and called 911. He immediately thought of the Dec. 10 fatal knife attack on the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell in the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun.
"I was thinking I hope (police) get here fast because I don't want this to be another Gutgsell incident," Zuerlein said. "Thankfully, (police) got there very quickly."
Washington County prosecutors have said Kierre Williams stabbed Gutgsell, 65, to death. Williams is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, use of a knife to commit a felony and possession of a weapon by a felon.
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Damage is shown inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha. A woman armed with a knife is accused of breaking into the building while a priest was sleeping inside.
ST. FRANCES CABRINI
Members of the Omaha Fire Department rescued Zuerlein from the second-floor bedroom window by ladder. The woman, who had by then broken into Zuerlein's bedroom, looked out the window to see Zuerlein descending a ladder.
"What was crazy is (the police) knew her name and they were talking to her," Zuerlein said. "I was thinking, 'Who is this woman that they already know her?' Then I found out she had already attacked her father and tried to light his house on fire and that's how they knew her."
Officers were initially called to a home in the 2200 block of South 11th Street at 5:19 a.m. for a disturbance between the woman and her father. Her father told officers that his daughter doused him with a flammable liquid and cut him with a knife. His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, officials said.
Damage is shown inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha.
ST. FRANCES CABRINI photos
The daughter allegedly tried to start a fire in the house before leaving on foot, police said. Officers were then alerted to the break-in at the St. Frances Cabrini rectory. Zuerlein said that the woman broke a downstairs window in order to enter the building.
Zuerlein said the woman's powers of destruction were stunning as she smashed large objects. She employed "some sort of super strength" to grab the mattress off his bed and block the bedroom window to keep police from coming in that way, he said.
She battled police when they entered the bedroom. They used bear spray in the incident, which has left the rectory uninhabitable for several days. Police removed her by force, preventing her from jumping out of the same second-floor window from which they rescued Zuerlein.
“We continue to pray for those involved in that incident and the preceding events,” the statement said.
Riley Johnson, the archdiocese's director of communications, also said: “Churches and rectories in the archdiocese have alarm systems, and each individual parish makes security arrangements for their facilities. We offer guidance upon request. Many parishes also have security personnel present during Masses.”
Zuerlein joined St. Frances Cabrini in 2015, after leading St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion since 2004, according to the biography of him on St. Francis Cabrini's website. He was ordained in 1981.
Books were knocked off shelves inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church.
He is "originally from Columbus, Nebraska, and is the oldest of six children," the church said.
The priest said he is staying with friends until the rectory is cleaned up and the heavy haze of the bear spray is dispersed. The destruction at the rectory included many items of memorabilia and family heirlooms, he said.
"I have no injuries at all, thank goodness," Zuerlein said. "The fire department got me out of there before she could break down the door. I'm hoping that this woman gets the help she needs and that she faces the consequences of her actions for her attack (at the rectory) and at her father's house."
The priest opened his bedroom door to find a woman armed with "a filet knife" at the bottom of the stairs destroying everything that she could lay her hands upon.
Zuerlein
"I asked who was there, and this woman at the bottom of the stairs said, 'I don't intend to do you any harm, but I'm going to do terrible things,' " Zuerlein said Monday. "My guess is that she didn't know anyone was in the house when she broke in, but she was there to cause destruction."
The 29-year-old woman entered the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church near 10th and William Streets around 6 a.m. by breaking a window. An Omaha police spokesman said the woman, who did not get into the church itself, was taken to a hospital for an evaluation about 10 a.m.
Zuerlein said that after talking to the enraged woman, who he did not know, he locked his second-floor bedroom door and called 911. He immediately thought of the Dec. 10 fatal knife attack on the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell in the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun.
"I was thinking I hope (police) get here fast because I don't want this to be another Gutgsell incident," Zuerlein said. "Thankfully, (police) got there very quickly."
Washington County prosecutors have said Kierre Williams stabbed Gutgsell, 65, to death. Williams is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, use of a knife to commit a felony and possession of a weapon by a felon.
Woman armed with knife told Omaha priest she was in rectory 'to do terrible things'
Sounds of shattering glass startled the Rev. Damian Zuerlein from his sleep Sunday and he opened his bedroom door to find a woman armed with "a filet knife."
Damage is shown inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha. A woman armed with a knife is accused of breaking into the building while a priest was sleeping inside.
ST. FRANCES CABRINI
Members of the Omaha Fire Department rescued Zuerlein from the second-floor bedroom window by ladder. The woman, who had by then broken into Zuerlein's bedroom, looked out the window to see Zuerlein descending a ladder.
"What was crazy is (the police) knew her name and they were talking to her," Zuerlein said. "I was thinking, 'Who is this woman that they already know her?' Then I found out she had already attacked her father and tried to light his house on fire and that's how they knew her."
Officers were initially called to a home in the 2200 block of South 11th Street at 5:19 a.m. for a disturbance between the woman and her father. Her father told officers that his daughter doused him with a flammable liquid and cut him with a knife. His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, officials said.
Damage is shown inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha.
ST. FRANCES CABRINI photos
The daughter allegedly tried to start a fire in the house before leaving on foot, police said. Officers were then alerted to the break-in at the St. Frances Cabrini rectory. Zuerlein said that the woman broke a downstairs window in order to enter the building.
Zuerlein said the woman's powers of destruction were stunning as she smashed large objects. She employed "some sort of super strength" to grab the mattress off his bed and block the bedroom window to keep police from coming in that way, he said.
She battled police when they entered the bedroom. They used bear spray in the incident, which has left the rectory uninhabitable for several days. Police removed her by force, preventing her from jumping out of the same second-floor window from which they rescued Zuerlein.
'We continue to pray for those involved in that incident'
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Omaha said it was grateful for the quick actions of police and fire personnel.“We continue to pray for those involved in that incident and the preceding events,” the statement said.
Riley Johnson, the archdiocese's director of communications, also said: “Churches and rectories in the archdiocese have alarm systems, and each individual parish makes security arrangements for their facilities. We offer guidance upon request. Many parishes also have security personnel present during Masses.”
Zuerlein joined St. Frances Cabrini in 2015, after leading St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion since 2004, according to the biography of him on St. Francis Cabrini's website. He was ordained in 1981.
Books were knocked off shelves inside the rectory of St. Frances Cabrini Church.
He is "originally from Columbus, Nebraska, and is the oldest of six children," the church said.
The priest said he is staying with friends until the rectory is cleaned up and the heavy haze of the bear spray is dispersed. The destruction at the rectory included many items of memorabilia and family heirlooms, he said.
"I have no injuries at all, thank goodness," Zuerlein said. "The fire department got me out of there before she could break down the door. I'm hoping that this woman gets the help she needs and that she faces the consequences of her actions for her attack (at the rectory) and at her father's house."
