Police called to Fremont Baptist Thursday

[Haruo]

More in a few hours when I have time to type it up.

Got to church about 25 minutes late this morning. The door I usually go in was locked. I walked to the door in front of the sanctuary (which I normally don't use to avoid distracting worshippers) and there was a readerboard out front that said something like "You're almost there! Enter sanctuary here <<<<<<"

When I entered, it was prayers of the people time, and the pastor was talking about an event on Thursday. Apparently a mentally disturbed person, known to have attended the Community Dinner the night before, came in to the locked door that leads to the pastor's and the church secretary's offices. He began making threatening statements about what he was going to do when he got in, and trying to break down the locked door. He was unable to get through it. He was wielding, and threatening to attack people with, a large can of Spaghetti-O's. The pastor and secretary were behind the locked door, and there were a couple other people in the church but I'm not sure where. (And of course the preschool in the basement.) The pastor called the police, who took 28 minutes to arrive. The attacker was taken away and hopefully got some real help. That's about all I know. Coming the day after a shooting incident (three shooters, one dead, seven injured, two of the three on the run) in downtown Seattle that made the national news, this is of course a bit unnerving.

[Dave Roberts]

Sadly, locked doors, cameras, and security measures have replaced open doors at most churches. To me, that is very sad, but very necessary.

[Sandy]

Wonder why it took 28 minutes for police to arrive? Maybe because he didn't have a gun?

[Haruo]

The SPD is understaffed, and I imagine much of what staff they had was still focused on the area downtown where the three-shooter event took place on Wednesday. Less likely but conceivable possibilities include an anti-Baptist or anti-Christian or even anti-integrationist bias on the part of someone in the chain of transmission of the request. (The last possibility there is because we are a mostly white congregation with a black (albeit interim) pastor.) Or the officers detailed may have been at lunch and/or on the toilet?

[Dave Roberts]

Having worked in a 911 center in the past, calls are given to a shift supervisor when no officer is available, and the supervisor prioritizes them for the next available officer. That is your most likely explanation and the probable procedure of the SPD.

[Haruo]