[NBC] A man carrying two gas cans, lighter fluid and lighters tried to enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Wednesday but was stopped by a security officer and taken into custody, an NYPD official said."Nothing happened inside the cathedral," the Archdiocese of New York said in a statement.
There was no fire, but there were people inside and the building was open at the time of the incident. Three senior law enforcement officials said the man may be emotionally disturbed.
The archdiocese said that "the individual was stopped as he tried to come into the cathedral," and he was turned over to police.
The incident comes days after the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned in what officials in France say they think could be an accident, and renovation work was being done at the time it broke out. Police said that the NYPD maintains a robust security presence at the Cathedral at all times, but that the department had added to that in recent days.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News that the man taken into custody is Marc Lamparello, 37, of New Jersey. Lamparello is listed as a doctoral candidate and adjunct lecturer in City University of New York's philosophy department.
| Heavy.com has very interesting Five Fast Facts on the gentleman, who was educated in Catholic schools. Also, he is known to police for public drunkenness and criminal trespass. |