Spanish judge sends suspect in church slayings to psychiatric center

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A Spanish judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a Moroccan man held in the January slaying of a church officer in the southern city of Algeciras.

Authorities identified the alleged assailant in the Jan. 26 machete attack as 25-year-old Yassine Kanjaa. He was arrested after he allegedly killed the worker and injured a priest at two Catholic churches in Algeciras.

The coffin of the church sacristan who was killed during an attack is carried out of a church after a funeral mass in Algeciras, Spain, on Jan. 27, 2023.  (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Toro, File)

A Spanish court told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the judge’s order was temporary and the attack was still being investigated as a possible terrorist act. Police have said they think the suspect acted alone.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said Kanjaa had been under a deportation order since June 2022 because of his unauthorized immigration status.