Two Denton Churches Receive Anonymous Threats
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DENTON (CBS11) - Would you attend Christmas Eve prayer services if there was a chance someone would try to blow up the church?
It's a question thousands of churchgoers in Denton are asking themselves right now after two bomb threats there in two days.
St. Andrew Presbyterian received the shocking letter this morning. It threatened to bomb the church unless it canceled these Christmas services.
"It was like, oh! It's hitting home!" Denton resident Cheryl Cooper said when she heard the news. "You just don't expect that."
Two different churches, two anonymous letters and one chilling message: Stop Christmas Eve services or your churches will be bombed.
"I just didn't expect to hear about it in Denton," Cooper said. "Especially now right across the street from where I work. And a church where we have friends going there too."
And Cooper's daughter attends the other church that was threatened. Denton Bible Church received the first letter with a bomb threat Monday. St Andrews Presbyterian received a very similar letter Tuesday.
"There was no religious or social affiliation mentioned in the letter," said Denton Police Department Spokesman Shane Kizer. "But it did mention that there was a bomb and threatened both churches to not have their Christmas Eve services."
Both churches apparently plan to continue their services. There was already visible security present outside Denton Bible Church today. Even so, Cooper has asked her daughter to change her Christmas tradition this year and stay home.
"She said that she's not going to go and for me to quit asking her," Cooper said. "But I hate that! Because I want the real spirit of Christmas to be celebrated and I think that's where we need to be. So, it's really a sad thing."
Denton police say they're keeping the Department of Homeland Security up to date on what is happening, but they won't tell us if federal agents are involved in the investigation.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
