Garden Grove, Calif. ? A gunman opened fire in the complex housing the world-famous Crystal Cathedral on Thursday, but no one was hit and children in a church day-care center were rushed to safety, police said.

A police SWAT team quickly surrounded the gleaming glass-and-steel cathedral and its surrounding buildings, and police said the gunman, a disgruntled or depressed cathedral employee, was holed up inside an office. Everyone else on the cathedral grounds was believed to have been safely evacuated by Thursday night.

Police were talking by phone with the man they believed to be the shooter and hoped to persuade him to surrender, Lt. Mike Hanfield said.

“We’re just going to wait and see how things go,” Hanfield told The Associated Press. “He’s despondent. He’s talking about hurting himself.”

Police didn’t know what prompted the gunfire. The man, believed to be in his 50s, was not immediately identified. He was armed with a handgun and had fired several shots, according to police.

“He’s threatened to commit suicide if we come into the office or we disclose any information about him,” Hanfield said.

The gunfire erupted shortly before 5 p.m., less than two hours before the cathedral’s annual “Glory of Christmas” holiday show was to begin.

Children who had been in a cathedral day-cay center waiting for their parents were safely removed.

Law enforcement personnel block the entrance to the Crystal Cathedral complex after a shooting incident at the site Thursday in Garden Grove, Calif. No one was hit when a gunman opened fire Thursday and children in a church day-care center were rushed to safety, police said.

The cathedral, a sprawling structure not far from Disneyland and baseball’s Angels Stadium, is home to the Rev. Robert Schuller’s international Crystal Cathedral Ministries and claims a congregation of more than 10,000 members. The internationally televised “Hour of Power” is broadcast from the cathedral.

Schuller, who was at home when the shooting occurred, came to the command post police set up near the cathedral and offered to speak with the man.

“He does know him, and he’s offered to help,” Hanfield said of Schuller.

The cathedral’s Glory of Christmas program draws visitors from around the world.