Giants Fan Priest Threatens 8-Year-Old Cowboys Fan With Musket, Officials Say

A New Jersey priest has been arrested for child endangerment and aggravated assault after pointing a musket at an 8-year-old child.

The reason for the threat? The priest, a New York Giants fan, wasn’t too happy that the boy was rooting for the Dallas Cowboys in a game later that day.

Kevin Carter, who had been with St. Margaret of Cortona Roman Catholic Church for two years, was arrested Friday. Carter apparently approached the boy just before Mass services at church on September 13 and asked to see him in one of the church’s rectory rooms. Prosecutors say the boy did so; once in the room, Carter pushed the boy against a wall, whipped out a musket, and pointed it at the child.

“As he raised his weapon and pointed it at the boy, he said, ‘I’m going to shoot you,'” John Molinelli, Bergen Country Prosecutor, told NBC 4 New York.

The child was not hurt.

The incident is only being reported nearly a month later because a parishoner who witnessed the incident only approached the Newark Archdiocese on September 25. The archdiocese in turn reached out to prosecutors to investigate. Police found a functioning musket, gunpowder, and ammunition within the rectory room, after which they arrested Carter.

“There’s no such thing as joking around with a weapon when you’re dealing with an 8-year-old kid,” Molinelli said.