Life-size Mock-up Gunman Placed at Door of Bratislava Cathedral

Life-size Mock-up Gunman Placed at Door of Bratislava Cathedral

Bratislava, June 13 (TASR) – Police on Monday called for possible witnesses to provide testimonies on the placing of a life-size figure of a masked gunman holding a mock-up automatic rifle in front of Saint Martin’s Cathedral in Bratislava during Sunday’s services.

Police received a phone call about an armed figure wearing an apparently Islamic headscarf also covering the face sitting at the cathedral door at around 9.15 a.m. on Sunday. A mass that was under way at the cathedral had to be interrupted, with Bratislava Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky calling on the present faithful to keep calm in vacating the 15th century cathedral. He also relieved the parishioners from their Sunday obligation. The mass was eventually finished at the nearby Saint Cyril and Methodius Seminary chapel, however.

Meanwhile, police searched the dummy thoroughly and found no explosives or other dangerous items.

A police investigator has launched an investigation into the crime of infringing upon the right to freedom of religion.