SAN DIEGO, Ca. (WSVN) — A church service was underway when a threat was made against those inside.
Prosecutors said surveillance video from inside showed a California church showed a woman with a gun in one hand and a baby in the other.
The pastor stepped in to help.
“I want all you guys to just get down and pray,” said Pastor Benjamin Wisan. “Just get down and pray.”
Pastor Ben Wisan stayed incredibly calm during a moment of chaos.
Surveillance video from the Easter Sunday service showed a mother allegedly threaten to open fire in the church.
“I want the ushers to stand up, get people out,” said Wisan “Just get people outside. Don’t worry.”
The 31-year-old woman, Conkey, sat in shackles as she relived those moments in court.
Pastor Wisan shared his side of the story.
“She said, ‘you don’t know what it means to be wiling to die,'” said Wisan. “She had a baby and a gun, and we had a pretty good feeling that she was going to get shot, and maybe some of our people were going to get shot.”
The pastor had to think fast to prevent panic.
“I thought first, ‘I’m pretty sure that’s a real gun,’ said Wisan, “and then I thought, ‘OK, there’s something that looks like a laser, and I know this would keep people a lot calmer so I’m just gonna say it’s a taser out loud.'”
“It’s just a taser, but we want everyone outside,” said Wisan as shown on the video.
The pastor even tried to protect Conkey from getting hurt.
“Anna, you gotta put that down. The police are coming in really hot and they don’t know it’s a taser. You gotta put it down right now,” said Wisan as shown in the video.
Conkey had also allegedly threatened to blow up the church at one point but called the police on herself.
Churchgoers were eventually able to wrestle the gun out of Conkey’s hand and got the baby to safety.
Fortunately, police said the weapon was not loaded.
Conkey pleaded not guilty to several felony counts, including child abuse, making criminal threats and a false report of a bomb.
A judge will determine if her case will go to trial.
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