04-04-2025
Man arrested in fatal shooting of beloved Catholic priest in Kansas, police say
An Oklahoma man was arrested Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of a Catholic priest at a church rectory in northeast Kansas, local police and church leaders said.
Raj B. "Arul" Carasala, 57, the longtime pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in the town of Seneca, was found with gunshot wounds Thursday afternoon after police responded to a call reporting shots fired. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died.
Within an hour, police brought into custody Gary Lee Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
Hermesch was booked into the Nemaha County Jail, where he was being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to a jail roster.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear. The state investigation bureau and the Nemaha County Sheriff's Office said they were investigating the circumstances of Carasala's death.
'Shock and disbelief'
Carasala was a devoted and zealous pastor who served the archdiocese more than 20 years, including as dean of the Nemaha and Marshall counties in northeast Kansas, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City said on Facebook.
"I am heartbroken to share the tragic news of the death of Fr. Arul Carasala, who was fatally shot earlier today," Naumann said in a statement Thursday. "This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend."
"His love for Christ and His Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care," he added.
Carasala had been a Catholic priest since 1994 and a pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church since 2011, according to the parish website. Carasala was invited to come to Kansas to possibly serve in the archdiocese by one of its former archbishops, the late James P. Keleher.
"We are in shock and disbelief," said the Facebook page of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. "Please allow our parish community to process."
