Man arrested and accused of making up church shooting

A man accused of making a false report of a shooting near a church in Burnet County on the morning of Oct. 6 has been arrested in Texas.

According to an office news release, the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a person requesting a police presence outside the church and then hung up. When officers arrived, they determined there had been shots fired and assumed the shooter was the same person who made the call.

Investigators spoke with Jacob Wayne Tarver, 45, a member of the church’s volunteer security team.

The Sheriff’s Office news release said Tarver told investigators he “confronted two suspicious men outside,” one of whom had a gun, and so fired several shots from a rifle before they got into a white minivan and left fled the scene.

However, the sheriff’s office said Tarver later confessed to making up the story and was subsequently arrested. He is charged with misdemeanors and felonies related to making a false report to initiate an emergency response, tampering with or falsifying physical evidence, and deadly conduct.

Tarver is awaiting a bond setting hearing at the Burnet County Jail.

Newsweek asked for comment after hours through a form on the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office website.

During an Oct. 7 press conference, Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd said, “The security team member who fired the shots admitted that he fabricated material details of this incident and lied to law enforcement and others about the incident.”

He continued: “There were no hostile acts by any person against the church and no weapons were brandished against the church or the member of the security team and at no time was the safety of the congregation threatened.”

Discussing the significance of Tarver’s alleged hoax, Boyd said, “This is such a big deal, I mean, we’ve heard from the state, we’ve heard from Austin, we’ve heard from the White House, because this is really getting everyone’s attention and it’s been a big one.” deal, and it was a real waste of assets.

After the incident, Epicenter Church senior leader Kyle Byrd informed his congregation of the incident in a now-deleted social media post, writing that their team “intercepted a team of jihadists who were attacking our community with a large-caliber rifle “A banana clip” after the security guard reportedly saw two men wearing turbans, local news agency Kxan reported.

After learning that Tarver had been accused of making up the story, Byrd said, “I reported what I was told, but I believed it, and it has caused harm to our community, and for that we are so sorry.” as we can.” what we knew.”

Byrd added that Tarver was “a deacon of our church,” that she was out of character and that members of the congregation were deceived because they did not know the story was false.

Newsweek also reached out to the Church at Epicenter via email after hours for comment.

Do you have a story we should cover? Do you have any questions about this article? contact[email protected].