Edmond Police Arrest Teen Accused Of Threatening Church Employees

Police arrest a teenager for allegedly making threats to kill employees at an Edmond Church.

Edmond police arrested 18-year-old Michael Seockjin Moon after he allegedly walked into First Presbyterian Church at 1001 S. Rankin shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, and started threatening church employees. He reportedly said he was going to "kill the sinners."

Police said Moon then drove away in a white Ford Crown Victoria, a vehicle that looked very similar to a police cruiser. The district put two nearby Edmond schools on lockdown as a precaution.

Police arrested Moon about an hour later at the Edmond Racquet Club, where officers found him playing tennis.

Edmond Public Schools spokesperson Susan Parks-Schlepp says Moon is a graduate of Memorial High School.

Parents and students tell News 9 he was kicked off the tennis team last year for threatening to blow up the school.

At 7:20 a.m. Monday, a school spokesperson says Moon went to memorial high school and asked to see a teacher but was turned away because he didn't have an appointment. He left, and didn't make any threats. However, school personnel noticed his demeanor was strange and alerted Memorial's school resource officer.

Police say Moon made the threat at First Presbyterian at 8 a.m.

Survaliance video from the church shows someone walking into the church. Edmond police say the man wandered around the church until he ran into Marvin Houston.

He calmly said he was doing the Lord's work and would kill the sinners.

"He was very passive, didn't seem to be very aggressive," Houston recalled.

Houston believes Moon came in through a side door that was open because of a woman's Bible study.

Because the church has an early childhood program, Houston called police who sent out an alert.

"He did actually make the threat of wanting to kill someone," said Edmond Police Public Information Specialist Jenny Monroe.

After learning about the threat at First Presbyterian Church and hearing the suspect description, the Memorial High School SRO looked up Moon's picture and address and provided it to Edmond detectives who, according to police, then showed it to church personnel who made a positive ID according to Parks-Schlepp.

Following the positive ID, detectives then put together other information to locate the suspect.

"Someone who is aquatinted with the person told us he might be out at the Edmond Racket Club playing tennis," said Monroe.

3/4/2013 Related Story: Lockdown Ends At Edmond Schools, Man In Police Custody

Moon will be booked at the Oklahoma County Jail under a complaint of felony assault/making threats to kill.