ZAGREB, April 21, 2019 – The person of African descent who disrupted Mass in St Peter’s Church in the Croatian Catholic parish in Munich on Saturday evening by shouting “Allahu Akbar” and throwing stones, is mentally ill and not connected with terrorism, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said on Sunday.
The man was shouting and throwing stones at the congregation and around the church, and the people fled in panic. Twenty-five Croatian nationals were slightly injured in the confusion, the ministry told Hina, adding that police said that the man did not use firecrackers as some media reported.
Croatian media at home and abroad said that it was a middle-aged man who was shouting “Allahu Akbar”, which led many of the believers to think that it was a terrorist attack.
Fenix magazine, the Croatian-language news website based in Frankfurt, said that several people had managed to overpower the man and stop him on his way to the altar before the police came in force.
The Croatian ministry quoted the Munich police as saying that the incident had nothing to do with terrorism and that it was caused by a mentally ill person, who has been hospitalised after being arrested.
Police stepped up security around the churches where Mass was celebrated in Croatian, notably around St Michael’s Church.
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