E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiHe had, however, been sending hate mail to the center, police said in court papers Monday.
On Sunday after midnight, witnesses at YWAM's training center said the gunman asked to spend the night at the dormitory and was turned down. He opened fire, killing two young adults and wounding two others. They described him as a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap.
About 12 hours later, witnesses at New Life Church in Colorado Springs described the gunman as wearing a dark trench coat and carrying a high-powered rifle. He opened fire in the church parking lot, killing two teenage girls and wounding their father, and walked about 60 feet into the church before a church security guard - Jeanne Assam - shot him. He was struck multiple times by the officer, but a new report indicated Murray died after firing a single shot at himself, the El Paso County Coroner's Office concluded after an autopsy, according The Associated Press.
An 11:00 a.m. worship service had ended about half an hour prior to the shooting and most worshipers had already left. Several hundred were still at the megachurch campus, according to New Life Senior Pastor Brady Boyd.
Police determined through investigations that "most likely the suspect in both shootings are one in the same."
Boyd said the shooting was a "random, senseless" act and that the gunman was unknown at New Life. The "common denominator," however, was Youth With a Mission. YWAM maintains a satellite office at the megachurch.
While news about the Arvada shooting had prompted New Life to beef up security that day, the 10,000-member church - the largest in the state - had always kept security volunteers at the church. Boyd explained that in a culture that has become more open, churches have increasingly become targets of people who are "aggravated and upset."
Megachurches across the country are taking more precautions as violence is on the rise against religious groups and churches, some of which open their doors daily. Earlier this year, megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes held his third annual S.T.O.P.P.E.D. - Security Training Offering Procedure Protection Education and Direction - conference, urging safety.
Authorities in Colorado Springs said the gunman at New Life had apparently intended to gun down many more victims before he was shot by Assam. He was carrying an assault rifle, two handguns and as many as 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
"God was with me," said Assam as she described her confrontation with the gunman. "God made me strong."
Chris333 »
Agree: 
Disagree: 
