Luke Broadwater and David Greisman report for The Baltimore Sun:
The Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, 62, died Saturday night at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center of injuries sustained Thursday in a double shooting at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, police said Sunday.
Kohn was co-rector of the Howard County church.
The second woman, church employee Brenda Brewington, 59, died Thursday.
… Howard County police said the suspected shooter, Douglas Franklin Jones, 56, was found in the woods nearby, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In a statement, the church said Jones, a homeless man whom the church fed frequently, became angry last week about being told to limit his visits to the food pantry.
The Diocese of Maryland’s annual convention approved a resolution Saturday that expressed its condolences and pledged to “recognize and address the needs of homeless persons in our communities, as well as the needs of our brothers and sisters who suffer from mental illness.”
“Our Church, which we regard as a Sanctuary, has been violated by this senseless tragedy, leaving us feeling vulnerable, betrayed, and angered,” said an explanation accompanying the resolution. “But our Church is also a holy icon, a gift to the world from the God of love and forgiveness. In this time of wounding, death, and brokenness, we stand with all victims and we offer our sanctuaries as places of healing, witnessing to God’s peace amidst violence and to the unbroken love that God has for all.”
“As I look back over the events of the past few days, I see a people who came together Thursday and Friday nights to affirm our faith in the Risen Christ,” said the Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek, co-rector with Kohn, in his sermon on Sunday morning. “I see a diocese that stops its business and takes the time to pray and reflect on our mutual trauma and loss. I see an avalanche of messages from all around the world offering prayers and support on our St. Peter’s Facebook page. I see a community of people called St. Peter’s who know what it means to surround one another with love. And I still see two women who were and continue to be exemplars to us of what it means to abide with Christ — what it means to be known by Christ.”
Photo courtesy of Episcopal News Service
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
