Priest Points Gun At 8-Year-Old Boy Over Dallas Cowboys, Arrested And Out On Bail [Video]

A New Jersey priest by the name of Father Kevin Carter was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault after pointing a gun at an 8 year old member of his church. The inexplicable action was brought to the attention of the Bergen County, New Jersey district attorney’s office several days after the priest decided to point the gun at the child, reports ABC News.

On September 13, the priest, without explanation, brought the young child to the private rectory room at the St. Margaret of Cortona Roman Catholic Church in Little Ferry, New Jersey. The priest then told the boy to stand against the wall, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office told ABC News.

New Jersey priest accused of pointing musket at 8-year-old boy for being a Cowboys fan: http://t.co/Qo8MFl2fbl pic.twitter.com/elfciQmYwX

— Heavy Sports (@HeavyOnSports) October 4, 2015

After the boy stood, the priest, in order to make his point, “retrieved a long gun from nearby and pointed it at the child with an indication that he would shoot him,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release according to ABC News. The gun the priest decided to point at the young child is described as a “functioning Civil War-style musket,” the prosecutor’s office told the media.

Eye witnesses said they saw the boy arrive at the Catholic church on September 13 with his family. After watching the priest invite the boy into the rectory, the gun incident was “witnessed by several individuals that were standing outside of the room,” the prosecutor’s office reported, according to ABC News. It’s not clear whether anyone tried to stop the priest.

According to The Guardian, the priest decided to point the gun because the boy was a Dallas Cowboys fan. The priest asked to see the boy in private because the child said he would support the Dallas Cowboys instead of Carter’s team, the New York Giants, in a game later that day. The Cowboys and Giants are divisional rivals.

The Guardian reports that the priest told the child “I’m going to shoot you,” to make a point about liking an opposing team, Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli told NBC 4 New York on Friday October 2.

Molinelli made the point that the “young boy was apparently a fan of a particular football team, the priest was not. So perhaps we have indication it started out as that.”

Shockingly, witnesses did not immediately point out the incident to authorities. Instead, a concerned member of the Catholic church reported that he saw the priest point the gun at the boy to the Newark Archdiocese on September 25, several days after the priest pointed the gun at the eight-year-old.

After the parishioner reported the incident, the Archdiocese told the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on September 28, three days after learning the priest decided to point a Civil-war style gun at a child, reports ABC News.

Local authorities found the priest at his rectory on Friday, October 2, and “a search of his room located the weapon in question, as well as gun powder, ammunition and associated items for the gun,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Although the young boy was unharmed in the shocking incident, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman made the point that “[t]here’s no such thing as joking around with a weapon when you’re dealing with an eight-year-old kid,”, according to the Guardian.

The priest, Father Kevin Carter, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, according to ABC News.

According to NBC New York 4, the priest is currently free on a $15,000 bail. His attorney, Harold Cassidy, said Carter will plead not guilty, and the priest is expected to be arraigned Tuesday. The Archdiocese of Newark did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why the priest decided to point a gun at a child, reports ABC News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1HMPNkmqr8

[Image credit: Pool/Getty Images]