Webloggin » Christians Killed at Colorado Missionary, Armed Guard Saves Lives at Separate Colorado Springs Church Shooting, Libs blame Bush

Latest: It turns out that killer Matthew Murray had attended the Youth With a Mission training program about 5 years ago but could not continue with the program due to health issues. A friend stated that he hated Christians. There is also an indication that he had been sending threating letters to the church for some time.

Murray participated in a Youth With a Mission training program 5 years ago but his health barred him from doing field work and going further with the program, YWaM director Peter Warren said at a separate press conference in Arvada.

The number of the lives that have been saved by the hero that gunned down Murray can not be understated. It appears that the killer had over a thousand rounds of ammunition on him when he entered the church that had an estimated 7000 parishioners in attendance. Her heroic act included putting her life in danger to protect others. Jeanne Assam should be commended.

At an afternoon press conference, police described the chaos at New Life Church that began at about 1:10 p.m. Sunday.

Smoke bombs went off near two entrances to the mega-church before Murray fired his first shots.

Then Murray, who was armed with clips for 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and two hand guns, began firing an assault rifle in an corner of the parking lot.

Sisters Stephanie, 18, and Rachael Works, 16, and their father, David Works, 51, were struck. Stephanie died at the scene, and her sister died later at Penrose Hospital.

Their father was wounded in the abdomen and groin.

Murray continued to spray bullets, hitting Judy Purcell, 40, in the shoulder and striking a number of vehicles.

Murray then made his way to the church’s eastern entrance and fired several rounds through the doors. Larry Bourbannais, 59, was wounded.

Assam, who also spoke at a Colorado Springs press conference this afternoon, said she saw Murray coming through the doors, and took cover.

She then emerged and identified herself, “and I took him down.” Assam fired as many as six rounds at Murray.

Assam said she was praying to the “Holy Spirit” during the confrontation.

It is not known if Assam’s rounds killed Murray, said Colorado Springs police Sgt. Jeff Jensen. “She definitely wounded him but we don’t know if she was the cause of the fatal wound. We don’t know if there was a self-inflicted gunshot wound as well.”

Police found three weapons - the assault rifle, and two pistols, along with a backpack he carried containing ammo in clips.

Police also reported that Murray also claimed to hate Christians but that kind of conflicts with his history of wanting to be a missionary unless of course he hated them because of his failure to become one himself.

UPDATE VII: The shooter has now been identified as 24 year old Matthew Murray.

UPDATE VI:Police are searching a home in suburban Denver looking for clues to link Mission shooting with the New Life Church shooting.

UPDATE V: A New Life parishioner, who had volunteered for security duty and was not law enforcement, charged the gunman using her own weapon. The key words here are “her own weapon”. The pastor of the church said “the female security guard was a hero in preventing further bloodshed, rushing to confront the gunman just inside the church. “She probably saved over a hundred lives.”"

I hope the gun-grabbers are reading this. This is just further proof that good guys with weapons are a good thing.

Sadly, two of the victims have been identified. Two teens, sisters, Rachel Works, 16, and Stephanie Works, 18, were shot and killed in the parking lot of the church.

Source: CNN and Michelle Malkin

UPDATE IV: ABC news is reporting that the police have indicated that the the shooting at the Arvada, Colorado Missionary and the Colorado Springs New Life Church are probably related, however they do not have evidence to substantiate it yet. Arvada Deputy Police Chief Gary Creagor said “Given the circumstances, I think it is a good possibility that the two are linked…..” The identity of the gunman still has not been released.

UPDATE III: 9News is reporting that “the gunman was dressed with a tactical helmet and body armor.”

UPDATE II: There has been another incident in Colorado Springs; only this time lives were saved when an armed security guard shot and killed the gunman as he entered the church and started shooting. One person shot by the gunman unfortunately has died.

The guard had coincidentally been placed in the church after news of the earlier Arvada killings. Perhaps the gunman in Arvada was not a deranged homeless person after all; only time will tell.

It was not immediately known whether the shootings were related, but Arvada authorities said they were sharing information with Colorado Springs investigators. The mission training program has a small office at the church’s World Prayer Center on the New Life campus.

Gov. Bill Ritter ordered state authorities to assist in the investigation.

A gunman in a black trench coat and a high-powered rifle entered the church’s main foyer shortly after 1 p.m. and began shooting, Myers said.

The church’s 11 a.m. service had recently ended, and hundreds of people were milling about when the gunman opened fire. Nearby were parents picking up their children from the nursery.

Police arrived to find the gunman had been killed by a member of the church’s armed security staff, Myers said.

“There was a courageous staff member who probably saved many lives here today,” Myers said.

The FBI and the ATF were assisting in the investigation. Officers were combing the campus looking for suspicious devices.

“We had a plan in place, and it worked well,” said Boyd, who in August took over from disgraced pastor Ted Haggard. “Many, many lives were saved today because of some quick, action by the many volunteers here at the church.”

One person shot by the gunman died, Boyd said. Three others were taken to Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs, where they were listed in critical, fair and good condition, said hospital spokeswoman Amy Sufak.

The 30 to 40 people in the church were taken to Pikes Peak Community College to be interviewed.

Boyd said security at the church had been beefed up after the early morning shootings in Arvada, but he did not elaborate and did not take questions. - (src Fox News)

Take note of the comment section from the Denver Post where lefties try to blame Bushies, the NRA and post 9/11 changes in the law for the shootings as well as make the false claim that the United States is the most dangerous 1st world country to live in; a claim that is not supported by statistics by any stretch of the imagination.

It’s always amazing how these incidents continue to happen EVERYWHERE in the good ol’ USA, but we’re told DAILY by the Bushies to fear Islamic terrorists and illegal Aliens. I don’t think Al-Queda or Mexicans shot those people in the Omaha Mall, nor these missionaries, nor the Redskin football player, nor the hundreds of other people who have lost their lives due to violence so far this month in America.

Of course we should ignore Islamic terrorism when we can deflect people’s sensibilities to other issues. That worked out pretty good for those who ignored the Nazi’s during WWII didn’t it? Once again certain people on the left show that they are not capable of comprehending the differences between global terrorism and domestic crime. It’s pretty sad that they are using this once again to take pot shots at the United States.

We don’t know what to make of this other than the fact that one or more gunmen entered 2 churches and started killing people in Colorado. Thankfully an armed guard saved more lives by killing the psycho before more people were harmed.

Update: This incident appears to be the act of a deranged homeless person.

ARVADA — Two youth missionary staff workers were killed and two others were injured early today when a man seeking shelter opened fire at a missionary dorm in Arvada.

Police and witnesses said two staffers, a man and a woman in their mid-20s, were killed just after 12:30 a.m. when the man approached the door seeking a place to stay.

The female staffer, identified by police as Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota, apparently told the man that the youth facility had no place for him. She was about to tell him that she could seek alternatives when he produced a gun.

“He opened up,” said Cheryl Morrison, wife of the senior pastor at Faith Bible Chapel, which leases the space to the Youth With a Mission dorm at 12750 W. 63rd Ave. in Arvada.

The gunshots came through the open doorway, killing Johnson and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska. Two other staffers were injured before the man, described as a white male in his 20s, ran.

Since I mentioned Michael Medved earlier I believe I once heard him say that one of the problems he had with allowing homeless people to hang out and set up in public parks is the possibility of their mental instability. From my perspective that would be a correct way to view the problem. Many homeless people are in such circumstances due to their inability to function in society.

Original Story Below:

You hear many stories about the politically correct crowd fearing the ramifications of racial profiling. The topic was essentially a main focus for Democrats who use this as a scare tactic when arguing against the practice as a tool to fight terrorism; the fear being that Muslim’s will unfairly be discriminated against out of supposedly unfounded fears concerning Islam and it’s ties to terrorism. The Democrats even broached the subject in a recent debate by example.

Yet in all of this it is other religions that often find themselves the target of hate filled crimes and discrimination. Michael Medved claims that statistically Jews are the target of the most religious oriented hate crimes in the Unites States today. Christians and Mormons often find themselves at the end of the mainstream media’s warped perceptions that unfairly paint them as being “potentially” as violent as radical Islam.

Today another group of Christians find themselves again as the victims of another senseless crime.

ARVADA, Colo. - A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday and opened fire, killing two people and wounding two others. No arrests had been made by late morning.

The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory in this Denver suburb.

Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap. He may have glasses or a beard.

“There’s no blueprint for this, we’re just going to be honest and pray for one another, cry with one another,” center director Peter Warren told KUSA-TV. “Who knows what was going on in this young man’s life.”

Police with several dogs searched the area through the night, and residents of nearby homes were notified by reverse 911 to be on the lookout. Medina said residents were asked to look out their windows to see if the snow had been disturbed during the night. About 4 inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day.

Conditions of the two injured people were not immediately available.

I personally hope this is not a crime that was done because the people were Christians. Unfortunately it has become increasing popular to demonize those of faith and the chances are that another crime has been committed under such prejudices. Let’s pray that this isn’t the case. But if true can we expect anybody in the media to start looking at the problem of religious intolerance from the left and from the Muslim community as a a real issue?