Colorado Shooting Aftermath

**Update 6: Breaking--El Paso County coroner says Murray killed himself after being shot by Jeanne Assam . . . (this ruling does not diminish Assam's heroism, Murray would have gone on to kill or injure others had she not stopped him)

**Update 5: Works family mourns loss of daughters, father David recovering--a descendant of Thomas Jefferson; Americans not interested in security "impediments" like metal detectors at malls (they wouldn't need it if guns were allowed!); churches have mixed reaction to having armed guards; Columbine stepfather--"nothing changes", calls for more gun "rules"; more on Murray's bizarre behavior at YWAM training 5 years ago

**Update 4: Murray's picture revealed; posted as "nghtmrchld26":



**Update 3: Jeanne Assam's work as a Minneapolis police officer, fired for lying after swearing at a bus driver

**Update 2: Matthew Murray's screed imitates Columbine killer Eric Harris' violent manifesto:

A diatribe was posted at 11:03 a.m. Sunday on a website devoted to people who have left religion. Investigating authorities believe it was left by gunman Matthew Murray. With the exception of two minor changes, some rearranging and the final paragraph, the text was originally written as a manifesto by Columbine killer Eric Harris. Some expletives from the Harris version were replaced by Murray with symbols. Other expletives were removed for publication, where noted.

The final paragraph comes from lyrics from the song "Anarchy" by the band KMFDM.

You christians brought this on yourselves

I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ....God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.

Well all you people out there can just kiss my (expletive removed) and die. From now on I don't give a @#%$ about what all you (expletive removed) have to say, unless I respect you which is highly unlikely, but for those of you who do happen to know me and know that I respect you, may peace be with you and don't be in my line of fire, for the rest of you, you all better @#%$ hide in your houses because I'm coming for EVERYONE soon, and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth, and I WILL shoot to kill and I WILL @#%$ KILL EVERYTHING! No I am not crazy, crazy is just a word, to me it has no meaning, everyone is different, but most of you @#%$ heads out there in society, going to your everyday @#%$ jobs and doing your everyday routine (expletive removed) things, I say @#%$ you and die, if you got a problem with my thoughts, come to me and I'll kill you, because........God (expletive removed), DEAD PEOPLE DON'T ARGUE! My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law. If you don't like it, you die. If I don't like you or I don't like what you want me to do, then you die. If I do something incorrect, oh @#%$ well, you die. Dead people can't do many things, like argue, whine, @#%$, complain, name, rat out, criticize, or even @#%$ talk. So that's the only way to solve arguments with all you (expletive removed) out there, I just kill. God I can't wait till I can kill you people, I'll just go to some downtown area in some big city and blow up and shoot everything I can.

You break my back but you won't break me.....all is black but I still see...shut me down, knock me to the floor.....shoot me up, @#%$ me like a whore....trapped under ice, comfortably cold, I've gone as low as you can go..... feel no remorse, no sorrow or shame......time's gonna wash away all pain I made a God out of blood not superiority I killed the king of deceit and now I sleep in anarchy.

---

**Update: how the shooting at New Life unfolded:

---

"It's time for me to head out and teach these (expletive) a lesson"
. . .
"I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ...God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world"--Matthew Murray, gunman at both Colorado shootings

Yesterday's speculations surrounding Matthew Murray's motivations--alleged hatred of Christians despite his own affiliation with Christian organizations and his family's own religious connections--seemed to be confirmed by writings he left before he started his murderous rampage early Sunday morning:

9Wants to Know has discovered more than a dozen writings posted by Matthew Murray where he warns of an impending rampage and copied the statements of one of the Columbine High School gunmen.

On Monday, police confirmed that 24-year-old Murray was the gunman in the deadly shootings at both the Youth With a Mission center on the Faith Bible Chapel campus in Arvada and at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Three people, including Murray, were killed in Colorado Springs, and two others died in Arvada. Five other people were wounded.

"You Christians brought this on yourselves," Murray wrote on a Web site for people who have left Pentecostal and fundamentalist religious organizations.

It was the most recent posting of his on the site, dated Sunday, December 9 at 11:03 a.m.

Murray lived with his parents in a home in unincorporated Arapahoe County where police conducted a search on Sunday night.

In the Web writings, which are now being investigated by Colorado Springs Police, Arvada Police and the FBI, Murray warned, "I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ...God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."

Murray had time to post again before heading to the New Life Church in Colorado Springs for the second round of violence, and managed to "say goodbye" to those he had contacted in the forums:

Murray's first posting on the day of the shootings is time stamped 10:50 a.m. It begins with a goodbye to those he has corresponded with for the past several months.

"You guys were awesome. It's time for me to head out and teach these (expletive) a lesson."

Murray continued, "Thanks for listening and all ... even though even many of you ex-Pentecostals don't understand ......(sic) See you all on the other side, we're leaving this nightmare behind to a better place."

Murray's descent into anti-Christian derangement was chronicled over several months of despondent, hateful posts:

Investigators already have copies of Murray's writings and are studying other Web sites.

Throughout his writings, which spanned several months, Murray's violence continued to accelerate.

Some of the users tried to counsel Murray and one psychologist even offered her services after reading his poem called "Crying all alone in pain in the nightmare of Christianity".

Murray rebuffed her offer.

"I've already been working with counselors. I have a point to make with all this talk about psychologists and counselors 'helping people with their pain,'" he wrote.

---

Murray's family issued a response yesterday:

"Our family cannot express the magnitude of our grief for the victims and families of this tragedy. On behalf of our family and our son, we ask for forgiveness," said Pastor Phil Abeyta, 24-year-old Matthew Murray's uncle. "We cannot understand why this has happened. We ask for prayer for the victims and their families during this time of grief. We are cooperating fully with the police agencies involved in the investigation of the events that led to this tragedy. Respectfully, the Murray family."