Ignite Life Center Congregant Reports Bomb Threat at Church, Then Ignores Police Calls
On Sunday, January 5, at 3:17 p.m., a man called 911 about a bomb threat at Ignite Life Center (ILC).
The caller was trying to contact the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) non-emergency number but called 911 instead.
GnvInfo obtained an audio recording of the 911 call. The audio will occasionally blank out because GPD Records was required to redact the caller’s personal information.
The caller said he was locking up ILC when a man walking with a black dog threatened to bomb and shoot up the church. The caller said the suspect called him racial slurs such as the n-word.
The caller told the suspect, “Hey, you gotta walk away,” and he did.
The suspect was described as a 50-year-old white man with a right-arm tattoo, wearing red shorts and no shirt.
The caller said the incident occurred around one or two hours before he called the police.
Explaining why he didn’t immediately contact police, the caller said, “I was just waiting to contact the pastors because I read online you [should] let the leaders know and the pastors know, then he told me to call non-emergency.”
The 911 dispatcher asked the caller if he could meet with police. The caller said he couldn’t due to having an appointment with a client in Alachua.
According to the incident report, GPD Officer Cody Meshes later contacted the caller three times and was sent to voicemail. On Meshes’ fourth attempt, the caller picked up but hung up the phone after Meshes introduced himself.
