Easter service preparation by Alliance Church pastor interrupted by last Tuesday’s frightening incident
Last week was a big one for Alliance Church Pastor Thor Burntvedt.
Like his fellow clergymen, Burntvedt spent part of his Holy Week preparing his Resurrection Day service for Easter Sunday. Unlike his colleagues, however, Burntvedt was thrown a curveball last Tuesday, one that disrupted his routine as a pastor and shook him as a Tracy resident and father.
It was that afternoon that a shelter in place call went out to members of the Tracy community as more than a dozen members of various law enforcement agencies searched the 4th St./Front St. area for a distraught man said to be armed and dangerous.
So close to the action was Burntvedt that he dropped what he was doing, and picked up his children and wife, Abby, and left town. That’s because the man on the run parked his vehicle in the church parking lot before be continued to evade law enforcement on foot.
“I was involved before the police were because he parked his vehicle in front of my office,” Burntvedt said. “When I noticed it, I thought, ‘Well, that’s weird.’ And I didn’t see anybody in it. I was just here, typing about Jesus.”
Burntvedt walked the parking lot to see if the driver was around. Needless to say, he wasn’t. Burntvedt lives next door to the church, but his family was gone on a shopping trip. He went to check on his house, then returned to his office. Shortly thereafter, his wife came to the church and the two started to go on a walk.
“We got halfway down the sidewalk and we realized that cop car are blocking off the property to the east and blocking off my house property to the west,” he said. “They already had their rifles out and were focusing on the church.”
Just like that, the normally sleepy and quiet Front St. turned into ground zero. With his kids home, Burntvedt went into full dad mode since he had no idea what was going on.
“I should’ve asked the police to go clear my house,” he said. “But I was in such a hurry to make sure my kids were safe that I did it myself, then locked all the doors. They patrolled the area a lot. We watched them open our garage door and clear that out. It was like watching a movie. It was wild.”
Burntvedt was never confronted by the armed man, although he was in his office alone for about 20-30 minutes after he pulled up and parked.
He asked law enforcement what he should do, and they recommended he leave immediately since the man hadn’t been apprehended yet. The family went to check on some family members in town, then left Tracy for a friend’s house outside of town.
“I wasn’t here by the time they came into the church,” he said. “I told the cops that I can’t guarantee he’s not in the church. He could’ve been and I might not have even known it, it’s a big building …” Burntvedt said although he was intimidated, he never feared for his life or felt like he was in danger.
“It was just very, very different than a normal day,” he said. “I was more like in protective mode. The police were very helpful. I was super impressed with how they conducted themselves.”
Burntvedt said the church is unlocked when he’s there working, otherwise it’s always locked up.
“He could’ve come in, I was right inside,” he said. “Sometimes people just want to come in and pray.”
The man was later apprehended with no shots ever fired behind Greenwood Nursery.
