BCSO: Church member arrested, admits to ‘fabricated’ threat story

A Burnet County Sheriff’s Office investigation has revealed that a reported armed incident at a Burnet-area church on Sunday, Oct. 6, was largely fabricated by one of the church’s volunteer security people.

The Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 7 announced the arrest of Jacob Wayne Tarver, 45, of Burnet County, an armed safety team member of Church at the Epicenter, on several charges, including making a false report and deadly conduct. At a Monday media conference, the BCSO said it had determined Tarver lied about driving away two armed men attempting to assault the congregation during its Sunday service by firing three shots at the suspects.

“In the course of this investigation, the safety team member who had fired the shots admitted that he had fabricated significant details of this incident and had lied to law enforcement and others about this incident,” reads a Monday media release from the BCSO. “There were no hostile actions taken or directed at the church by any persons, and no weapons brandished toward the church or the safety team member. At no time was the safety of the congregation in jeopardy.”

Tarver originally told law enforcement that he had come upon two men with weapons attempting to force their way into Church at the Epicenter, located at 2401 U.S. 281 North near Burnet, on Sunday morning. He said he scared them off by firing at them with his own weapon before they could take action. He claimed they had fled north on U.S. 281 toward Lampasas in a white minivan.

Several agencies converged on the church to investigate, including the Texas Rangers and the Burnet Police Department. The Texas Department of Public Safety also used its aircraft in the ensuing search for suspects.

Local school districts and churches all upped their security measures on Monday following the report.  

Tarver was arrested on charges of making a false report to induce an emergency (Class A misdemeanor), tampering with or fabricating evidence (third-degree felony), and deadly conduct (third-degree felony). He is currently being held at the Burnet County Jail in Burnet. 

Rumors about the incident were widely shared following the incident.

Church at the Epicenter founder Kyle Byrd posted on his personal Facebook page on Sunday that the church’s security team thwarted “jihadists” attempting an assault on the congregation.

Following the results of the BCSO investigation, Church at the Epicenter officials released their own media statement, explaining their shock and confusion in the aftermath:

“It is with confused and broken hearts that we report (news of Tarver’s fabrication),” reads the statement, posted to the church’s Facebook page on Monday afternoon. “We now turn our hearts towards trying to understand what might have led our head of security to fabricate such a serious story. While we know that these types of threats are real around our state & nation, we have absolutely no idea why this happened.”

Other posts on online media outlets called for a search for two men in “headwraps” or “headdresses” after the false report spread.

“There’s enough going on in the world. We don’t need people making things up,” Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd said during the Monday media conference.

The BCSO closed its emailed media release with the following statement:

“Sheriff Boyd asks that members of the public disseminate this update broadly by liking, sharing, re-posting, and freely discussing it. The rumors and speculation surrounding this case have only served to cause fear, mistrust, and animosity within the community. This falsehood can only be counteracted by the widespread announcement of the truth.”

dakota@thepicayune.com