A Missouri man was arrested in connection with a heinous crime spree at a Catholic Supply chain store in St. Louis in which a female customer was fatally shot and at least one other woman was sexually assaulted, officials said.
Thomas Bruce, 53, is now in police custody on 14 charges including first-degree murder, sodomy, kidnapping, burglary, tampering with evidence and armed criminal action, according to the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney.
Bruce entered the store on the west side of St. Louis shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday posing as a customer, left to get a credit card and then returned and forced everyone into a back room, prosecutors said.
He demanded female customers and workers in the store to remove their clothes before proceeding to sexually assault several of them, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Bruce then shot customer Jamie Schmidt, 53, a mother of three, in the head, killing her, prosecutors said.
Police officials also confirmed that at least one victim was sexually assaulted.
The tampering charge against Bruce is related to his attempt to dispose of some of the clothing, which was ultimately recovered, prosecutors said.
Officers swarmed the store — which sells rosary beads, votive candles, Bibles and other religious supplies — but by the time officers arrived Bruce had fled.
St. Louis County police said the suspect, now identified as Bruce, was detained at a mobile home park in a St. Louis suburb. Officials said detectives were interviewing Bruce Wednesday afternoon.
Bruce is being held on $150,000 cash-only bond. It is unknown if he has retained an attorney.
The attack prompted a massive manhunt on Monday, in which authorities described the assailant as “armed and dangerous.”
Officials said that the victims did not know the alleged killer and investigators have not determined a motive for the crime.
“Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrific tragedy at Catholic Supply. We are praying for these victims… We join civic authorities asking for the community’s assistance in apprehending the culprit of this crime,” Archbishop Robert Carlos of the Archdiocese of St. Louis said in a statement.
ABC News’ Rachel Katz contributed to this report.
