HERO

Maintenance Worker Killed in Mosque Attack May Have Saved Lives, Cops Say

The intruder believed the mosque was “Caesar’s home,” police said.

A facilities manager at a mosque in Sanford, Florida, was killed on Thursday in an altercation with a man who had broken into the Islamic center. The worker’s body was found on the porch of the Husseini Islamic Center after a 911 caller said someone had been injured. Deputies with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said they found evidence of a fight near the body: a window smashed with a propane tank, chairs toppled over, and a table moved. Police said they believed the victim was stopping the suspect from harming others, potentially saving the lives of the children who attended the mosque’s school. “You can just imagine for one moment, if it wasn’t for the heroic efforts of our victim trying to confront this threat, struggle there and prevent any of those other people who may have been coming in just minutes later from experiencing similar fate,” Sheriff Dennis Lemma said, according to CNN. The suspect was later pulled over in the victim’s vehicle and was shot by police after appearing to threaten them. Should he survive his injuries, he is expected to face murder charges.