A 31-year-old woman was behind bars Monday after she allegedly walked into church service in Clairemont on Easter Sunday with a baby in her arms and made violent threats while armed with a gun.
Churchgoers were able to wrest control of the weapon from the woman and no one was hurt, officials said.
Dispatchers received a call at 12:02 p.m. Sunday from a person reporting the armed woman at the Mt. Everest Academy on Mt. Everest Boulevard north of Balboa Avenue, according to San Diego police.
Easter Sunday services were being held at the school by Tsidkenu Church, a non-denominational church that leases the space, Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said.
The woman, later identified as Anna Conkey, walked onto stage during the service and “made threats that she was going to blow up the church” while waving a handgun around, Takeuchi said.
Before police arrived, churchgoers were able to disarm the woman, Takeuchi said, adding that officers arrived a short time later and took Conkey into custody without incident.
Officers located the gun at the scene and determined that it wasn’t loaded.
Police used bomb-sniffing dogs to conduct a sweep of the area where the church services were being held as well as Conkey’s car because of her threats, the lieutenant said. No explosives were found.
Conkey had a 10-month-old baby with her during the incident and officers later located her 5-year-old daughter, Takeuchi said, adding that both children were found to be healthy and unhurt.
He did not disclose where the 5-year-old was found.
“Both children have been taken into protective custody and will be evaluated by Child Welfare Services,” Takeuchi said Sunday.
Conkey was booked into the Las Colinas Detention Facility on suspicion of child cruelty, making a false bomb report, robbery, having a firearm at a school, disturbing a religious meeting, resisting an officer and two counts of assault with a firearm, according to jail records.
She was being held without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
–City News Service