Man dies by suicide during standoff at ‘world’s smallest Catholic church’ in Texas
A man wanted for questioning in a homicide investigation died by suicide during an armed standoff at a Texas church billed as the world’s smallest active Catholic church, according to authorities and local media. A rideshare driver told deputies the man had forced him at gunpoint to drive there from Houston.
The standoff unfolded Tuesday at St. Martin Catholic Church on State Highway 237 near Round Top, between Austin and Houston, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said the 56-year-old Houston man was wanted for questioning about the death of a 59-year-old California man found in a driveway in the 2200 block of South State Highway 237 last week.
Deputies responded at about 7:44 a.m. Thursday after receiving a report of an unresponsive man. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead. An autopsy by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office found that the preliminary cause of death was a gunshot wound, and the death was classified as a homicide.
On Tuesday, authorities received information that the Houston man planned to take a rideshare to the church. After dropping him off, the driver contacted the sheriff’s office and said the man had held him at gunpoint and forced him to make the trip.
The driver was not physically injured and was released by the gunman, authorities said.
Deputies found the armed man inside the church, where a standoff began. Texas Rangers and a tactical team with members from Fayette, Austin and Colorado counties responded and negotiated with him for several hours.
The standoff ended when the man took his own life, according to the sheriff’s office. His identity is being withheld until his next of kin have been notified. Authorities said there was no danger to the public during the incident.
St. Martin’s chapel measures about 18 by 14 feet, with 12 wooden benches seating about 20 people. It was built in 1915 using leftover lumber after the original 1888 church was dismantled to provide materials for a school in nearby Fayetteville, according to the Texas State Historical Association and the Diocese of Austin.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
