Springfield man charged with making terrorist threat

A Springfield man who allegedly threatened to blow up a local church and said he was going to “murder everybody in this mother (expletive) congregation” has been charged with making a terrorist threat.

According to court documents, Aaron Woodard, 31, entered Immanuel Baptist Church at 11 a.m. on July 5 and began to yell and scream obscenities as 70 people sat for the church’s Sunday service.

During this outburst, officials say he threatened to blow up the church and murder everyone inside.

The court documents refer to an audio recording in which Aaron allegedly yells “I am going to murder everybody is this mother (expletive) congregation.”

Officials say Woodard continued to threaten harm as he was escorted out of the building by members of the church.

Court documents say Woodard attempted to return to the church after being removed, but was stopped by law enforcement officers.

Woodard was charged with one felony count of making a terrorist threat, and one misdemeanor count of disrupting a place of worship.

Gary Cavin, a deacon at Immanuel Baptist Church, said he did not feel comfortable speaking on the matter, and said other church leaders better suited to discuss it were unavailable at the time.

Woodard is currently on supervised probation after he pleaded guilty to violating an order of protection in January of 2015, according to court documents. His bond was set at $10,000.