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A man from Missouri was arrested in connection with a series of heinous crimes committed in a Catholic supply chain in St. Louis. A client was shot dead and at least one other woman was sexually assaulted, officials said.
Thomas Bruce, 53, is currently in custody on 14 charges, including first degree murder, buggery, kidnapping, burglary, falsification of evidence and deeds. armed criminals, according to the County Attorney General of St. Louis.
Bruce entered the store on the west side of St. Louis shortly after 3 pm On Monday, posing as a customer, departing to pick up a credit card, he returned, exposed a handgun and forced everyone into a back room, police said in a press release.
According to a press release from the St. Louis County Police Department, he ordered the three victims to go to the back room where he forced them to undress under the threat of a pistol. Bruce allegedly exposed his genitals and asked each of the victims to engage in sexual acts on him, the police said.
St. Louis County Police Department
Two of the victims complied, but when the 53-year-old mother of three, Jamie Schmidt, refused, Bruce was shot in the head, police said.
Bruce then ordered the other victims to continue engaging in sexual acts on him, then fled, police said.
The officers invaded the store – which sells rosary beads, votive candles, Bibles and other religious supplies – but at the arrival of the agents, Bruce was gone.
The police later published images of clothes similar to those Bruce had worn during the alleged attack. Bruce then threw off his clothes during the alleged incident, police said.
Bruce was arrested Wednesday in a mobile home park in a suburb of St. Louis. Officials questioned Bruce on Wednesday afternoon.
Bruce is held with a cash bond of only $ 150,000. It is unclear when he retained the services of a lawyer.
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Our thoughts are with the victims of this tragic tragedy at Catholic Supply. We pray for these victims … We join the civic authorities to ask the help of the community to apprehend the culprit of this crime.
Johanna Huckeba / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
Officials said that the victims did not know the alleged murderer and that the investigators did not determine the reason for the crime.
David Carson / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images
Johanna Huckeba / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images
"We are wholeheartedly with the victims of this tragic tragedy at Catholic Supply, we pray for these victims … We join with the civic authorities to ask the community for assistance in apprehending the culprit of this crime", said Archbishop Robert Carlos of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis said in a statement.
ABC News & Rachel Katz contributed to this report.
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