Church shooting hoax sparks safety talk among pastors in Central Texas

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – In a shocking turn of events Monday, authorities in Burnet County announced that reports of suspected shooters at a church on Sunday never happened.

On Sunday morning, the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office responded to the church at the epicenter after the church’s security team member, 45-year-old Jacob Tarver, said he fired several shots because of two suspicious men outside the church and claimed one was armed been with a gun.

The sheriff’s office confirmed that Tarver made up the whole thing and lied to law enforcement.

This incident left many across the state in panic.

Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd described the incident as a “waste of resources.”

“There’s enough going on in the world, we don’t have to make anything up,” Boyd said.

Sheriff Boyd said the department interviewed Tarver Sunday evening and Monday morning.

However, Tarver admitted to making up the story when the Texas Rangers questioned him late Monday morning.

Sheriff Boyd believes Tarver was unaware of the severity of his lies.

“I’m sure Jacob didn’t realize what he was doing when he did that. “The way things are in our country now, when we talk about a shooting at a church or a school, everyone comes and that’s exactly what happened,” Boyd said.

This incident sparked concern across the state, including in Central Texas.

The First Baptist Church in Temple said it had law enforcement during Sunday services, as did Central United Methodist in Waco.

Pastor Dave Brower of Central United said the church began having more security discussions after a gunman killed 26 people and injured more than 20 at a church in Sutherland Springs in 2017.

“It’s things like this that make people think and make people explore the options for security in a church,” Brower said.

Brower said it’s concerning that churches have gone from safe havens to needing additional security.

“There is a lot of loneliness in the world and that is just the breeding ground for all sorts of bad ideas and bad habits in life. We recognize that people can be drawn into beliefs that are not essential to life and bring destruction and pain into the world. We grieve, it’s not about how God created the world, but about how the world is now. So we have to understand what it means to live in this world,” Brower said.

Tarver is charged with false reporting to initiate an emergency response, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and deadly conduct.

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