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Updated: 6:58 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 | Posted: 11:43 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. —
A woman armed with a sword barged into a mosque next to a school at the Islamic Society campus on North Goldenrod Road Wednesday, Orlando investigators said.
Investigators said Dominique Vianneyte Eloi, 47, was arrested after deputies found her leaving the mosque with the sword in-hand.
"Somebody told me she came with some kind of evil intention," said Islamic Society of Central Florida member Mohammed Bawany.
Eloi was supposed to face a judge Thursday morning, but she was placed on suicide watch and will remain in her cell.
According to a school employee, Eloi drove onto the campus and walked away from her car with the 2-foot-long sword.
"She entered the mosque. She put a hoodie on. She had the sword with her and she went through the mosque,” said Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.
Witnesses said Eloi began speaking to them in what they thought was German.
The groundskeeper confronted Eloi and asked her what business she had on the property, to which Eloi did not respond. That's when the groundskeeper called 911.
"We responded quickly, and the threat was secured," said Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Ginette Rodriguez.
Deputies said Leaders Preparatory School, which is on the campus, was immediately placed on lockdown by the school principal but has since reopened.
Investigators said they don’t know why Eloi entered the property and they don't know whether she has any ties to anyone in the school or mosque.
Deputies said Eloi never hurt anyone with the sword and wasn't an imminent threat, but more than a dozen deputies and K-9 units were called to the scene out of an abundance of caution in the wake of last week's Connecticut elementary school shooting.
The Islamic Society said they take security seriously and have guards, cameras and sign-in procedures, but that didn’t stop Eloi from making it onto the campus, authorities said.
Society leaders said they’ll revisit security to make sure a serious threat doesn’t happen again.
Investigators said Eloi was uncooperative, and she wouldn't take a mug shot.
They said no one is sure what her intentions were, and she had an out-of-state ID.
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