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A 27-year-old man was arrested Monday following a bomb scare at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Kendall on Sunday, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred during Sunday Liturgy. Isaac Lopez, a Cuban national, was reportedly acting suspiciously while carrying a backpack, prompting a church member to alert an usher, reports the Miami Herald.
When confronted about his backpack, Lopez allegedly told the usher, “It’s a bomb,” before handing over the bag. The usher secured the backpack in a nearby room.
Minutes later, a loud, high-pitched alarm resembling a ticking countdown sounded throughout the church, disrupting the service. Deputies said Lopez ran to the room where the backpack had been placed, put his phone—which was making the ticking noise—inside the bag, and returned to the service.
As the service ended, Lopez reportedly yelled the Islamic terrorist phrase, “Allahu Akbar”—Arabic for “God is great,” causing fear among congregants, according to authorities.
Lopez was known to several congregants, and parish officials provided investigators with his full name and phone number. Detectives said he gave a full confession, though details were redacted in the publicly-released arrest report.
Lopez faces one count each of making a false report of placing a bomb or explosive and disturbing a school or religious assembly. As of Tuesday, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $7,650 bond.
