Garden Grove's Crystal Cathedral the Scene of a Suicide

Handing the greeter a note, a long-haired man walked into the Crystal Cathedral on Wednesday morning, knelt in front of the large gold cross, and shot himself in the head.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - With all the other drama taking place at the Crystal Cathedral, on Wednesday California's massive glass church was also the scene of a suicide. A man walked into the building, handed one of the church greeters a note, then knelt in front of the large gold cross in the front of the sanctuary where he pulled a gun from his backpack and shot himself in the head.

Police were summoned to the scene at 9:40am Pacific time, after greeters, who thought the man had knelt to pray, heard a loud pop and saw his body slumped on the ground.

Greeters told police the man had stated he was from "around here" when he handed them a note wrapped around his driver's license. The note indicated that he'd parked a truck in the church parking lot and had borrowed a gun, according Betty Spicer, one of the greeters.

Spicer described the man as having long-hair and appearing somewhat unkept. He seemed to be in his mid-40's.

Another of the greeters, Yvette Manson, told The Orange County Register that she was conducting a tour of six visitors from Canada and had just mentioned the church's around-the-clock suicide prevention services when she heard the noise.

She told her guests that a window pane must have blown out when one of them told her that the man had just shot himself.

The identity of the man, whose last known address was in Whittier, has been withheld pending notification of the family. Police have the area secured as they continue their investigation and conducting interviews with the visitors, greeters, and others present.

The Crystal Cathedral is still a popular tourist attraction with people arriving from early morning until late evening. Church officials were busy on Wednesday trying to determine what to do with groups that were coming for tours.

Bill Gaultiere, the director of the church's New Hope counseling and suicide prevention ministry, told The Register that he counseled and prayed with the tourists and ushers after Wednesday's shooting.

He urged them to focus on the fact that the man sought Christ in his final moments rather than focusing on lingering tragic images.

"This man who died was suffering," he said. "He was in the midst of despair and confusion."

Gaultiere indicated that suicides tend to spike this time of year. Some people hang on through the holidays and attempt to begin anew in January only to find themselves in the same situation by mid-February, he said.

Visitors, reporters, church members and employees gathered outside the church for most of the day following the event.

This is not the first suicide for the church, whose orchestra director, Johnnie Carl, shot himself in 2004. The musician had a bi-polar disorder and had stopped taking his medication.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online

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