A California church with an open-door policy is reeling today after police say a man took his 4-year-old daughter — with his 9-year-old son watching — and drowned her in the baptismal font.

Healdsburg, California police say 42-year-old Gerardo Mendoza Ordaz took his children into St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and “submerged his daughter in the one- to two‑feet‑deep baptismal pool in the sanctuary, estimated to be about 8 feet wide and ten feet long,” the Press Democrat reports.

“We do believe she was drowned intentionally,” Healdsburg Police Chief Kevin Burke said at a press conference on Monday.

KTVU reports:

According to Healdsburg Police, the father was carrying his unresponsive daughter in the back lot of the police station Sunday around 8:30 p.m. He was yelling, “help,” and “police.”

Police say the father was naked, while the daughter was clothed. Another child, a 9-year-old boy was also there. He was partially clothed. 

The girl was taken to the hospital where she later died. 

Ordaz’s son is being described as “the sole witness.”

“Our local Catholic church leaves the door to the premises unlocked late on Sundays for parishioners to go in and do legitimate worship,” Burke tells SF Gate. “So, they were in there alone at the time.”

Church leaders declined to comment on the case, except to say, “Sunday night there was tragedy in the church; a little girl lost her life,” according to Rev. Sean Rodgers.

“When police finish the investigation we will know more. In the meantime, please pray for the family, and the parish community.”

Ordaz was booked into a Sonoma County jail and is being held without bail.

Police conducted a “lengthy interview in Spanish with the suspect,” according to the Press Democrat.