Pastor accused in shooting threat changed after head injury, colleague says

Church officials, relatives say that fall from a ladder in 2018 caused head injury, changes to personality

A 79-year- old Lutheran pastor arrested last week for allegedly threatening to shoot up a church he formerly attended displayed personality changes after a head injury, according to those who know him.

On Jan. 16, San Carlos resident

Paul Michaelson was arrested on suspicion of hand- delivering multiple letters to Holy Trinity Church detailing his “doomsday” shooting plans for the following Sunday, prompting increased security at the church and a condemnation from the regional bishop.

In a twist that shocked the local Lutheran community, Michaelson was not only a former member of Holy Trinity himself but also had served as a part-time pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in San Mateo since the early 2000s.

Now those in Michaelson’s circle have been left questioning behavior they describe as out of character — and wondering whether the threats stem from a head injury he apparently suffered about a year and a half ago.

“The guy’s as gentle and compassionate and loving as any guy I’ve ever known,” said Dan Severson, the senior pastor at Hope Lutheran who has worked with Michaelson for about five years. “People loved Paul. They loved him because he was compassionate, he was involved in their lives and interested in what it was like to live as a senior in difficult situations.”

Michaelson’s duties at Hope Lutheran included tracking church membership statistics and running the senior ministry program, Severson said. That meant keeping up with other seniors’ lives

— particularly those who lived alone like he does — and arranging monthly lunch outings.

But around April 2018, Michaelson fell from a ladder outside his home in San Carlos and suffered a head injury, according to Severson and members of his family. He returned to work after treatment in the intensive care unit — but his personality had changed and he was much more withdrawn, tiring easily, colleagues said.

“It was something that affected his mood and his overall ability to do the job as well as he used to,” Severson said. “He still worked. He still came in. He still fulfilled the basic responsibilities of the job. He just wasn’t the same jolly guy as he had been before.”

Michaelson does not have children and has few family members in the Bay Area. In 2017, his wife, Marilyn, died at the age of 80. Before that, he felt that Holy Trinity did not support him

“It was something that affected his mood and his overall ability to do the job as well as he used to. He still worked. He still came in. He still fulfilled the basic responsibilities of the job. He just wasn’t the same jolly guy as he had been before.” — Dan Severson, senior pastor at Hope Lutheran

and his wife while she dealt with cancer, Severson said.

Michaelson’s niece Kimberly Phair, 46, reached by phone in Minnesota, confirmed that several cousins had alerted her to Michaelson’s fall last year, but she could not confirm exactly when it happened.

“This whole thing is just shocking,” Phair said.

Michaelson’s letters, which he allegedly brought to Holy Trinity on four separate occasions in January, spelled out his scheme to slay first the Holy Trinity pastor and then parishioners, according to a gun restraining order filed in San Mateo County Superior Court Friday. He made bail on the Friday after his release; no formal criminal charges have been filed yet in San Mateo County Superior Court.

But detectives say that they were not aware of any documented mental health problems in Michaelson’s past that could have contributed to the threats, according to San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Rosemerry Blankswade.

Michaelson appeared to be lucid when he first was apprehended, she added.

“In the initial interview, nothing stood out,” Blankswade said. “He seemed to have no major mental health components.”