A woman who walked into a church service in Clairemont on Easter Sunday two years ago and made violent threats while holding her young son and brandishing an unloaded gun was committed to a public hospital on Thursday.
Anna Conkey pleaded guilty in June to felony and misdemeanor charges including child endangerment, criminal threats and possession of a firearm in a school zone, and was sentenced Thursday to a maximum term 33 years old.
Anna Conkey, 31, was formally charged with eight felonies in a church gun threat and pleaded not guilty. NBC 7’s Artie Ojeda has more.
In an interview with SDPD, Conkey described herself as a “seer” who was commissioned by God to start a YouTube channel in January and who often receives encouraging messages from God, especially through the lyrics of a song by Kanye West.
Prosecutors said Conkey, 33, called 911 and emailed his former employer, NBC San Diego, and told them a woman with a gun was going to “blow up the foundation of the ‘church”.
Conkey, an SDSU graduate and former communications specialist in the US Navy, was a former intern and freelance digital producer for NBC 7.
Although the bomb threat turned out to be unfounded, Conkey then took to the stage in the Mount Everest Academy auditorium while holding a gun in her right hand and her young son cradled in her left arm.
According to testimony from the preliminary hearing, Conkey told congregants present that she was a martyr, saying, “You’re all going to die” and urged them to listen to her message regarding her religious beliefs.
Before the police arrived, worshipers were able to disarm her and pull her baby away from her, but after bystanders handed the gun to officers, Conkey rushed forward, grabbed the gun and ran ahead. to be tackled by the police, according to witnesses.
Video from the service that aired during Conkey’s preliminary hearing showed Pastor Benjamin Wisan turning to see Conkey behind him and asking, “Is that a gun?”
Wisan testified in court that he didn’t know if it was a gun or a stun gun, but told the crowd it was a stun gun to calm them down and then told them. asked to leave the building and pray.
Witnesses say a woman carrying her baby boy pointed a gun at the congregation and her son. The threat occurred on Sunday at Mount Everest Academy in Clairemont. The suspect is Anna Conkey. NBC 7’s Danica McAdam has more.
Several of the worshipers testified that Conkey waved the gun and did not point it at any specific person, while others alleged that she pointed the gun at her baby.
However, all witnesses said they did not believe she intended to shoot anyone.