Gunman Kills Christian Missionaries In Arvada, Still At Large; Update: 4 Shot Outside Co. Springs Church
****Update 5--Police remove boxes from home suspected to be linked to Sunday's shootings; shooter wore tactical helmet, body armor; two now reported dead in Co. Springs (aside from gunman)
****Update 4--RMN reports shootings may actually be linked, more at the Post:
By Sunday evening, investigators in the two cities believed they might be linked.
"There is a reason to believe that," Arvada Police Chief Don Wick said, but he would not elaborate.
"Those are leads we're following up," he said.
****Update 3--6 shot in Co. Springs, more details from Sunday's shooting in Co. Springs, 1 teenage girl dead, gunman killed by security officer (**update, female security officer) at the Church, IED found (**update, not explosives, but smoke-making devices):
Authorities say five people were shot on Sunday in the second shooting of the day at a Colorado religious center.****Two gunmen believed to be involved in Colorado Springs shooting, one reportedly downed in exchange of gunfire with law enforcement
The gunfire erupted at the 10,000-plus member mega-church, New Life Church, just after 1 p.m., according to authorities.
KOAA says the gunman opened fire at the New Life Church, located at 11025 Voyager Parkway in Colorado Springs, as the 12 p.m. service was getting out. Authorities say the shooting occurred outside of the church.
Police say a security guard shot and killed the gunman. Authorities also found an improvised explosive device.
9NEWS has also learned that a teenage girl was killed in the shooting.
****Pictures of the four victims of the Arvada shooting have been released; gunman was apparently seeking shelter and opened fire when he was told he could not be accomodated (Youth with a Mission website):
dead
dead
critical condition
injured
More details emerge from the Arvada shooting:
A lone gunman opened fire on a missionary training campus early Sunday morning, shooting four people, two of whom have died and one who is in critical condition.
Arvada Police investigators say the gunman walked into a dorm-like residence hall at the Youth with a Mission facility on the Faith Bible Chapel campus near 64th & Ward Road just after midnight and began shooting. Youth with a Mission is commonly referred to as YWAM.
Peter Warren, the Director of Youth with a Mission Denver says YWAM had just finished a Christmas banquet and were cleaning up at about 12:30 a.m. when the suspect arrived and asked 26-year-old Tiffany Johnson of Minnesota if he could be housed for the evening.
When Johnson told him they could not accommodate him, Warren says, the suspect opened fire with an automatic handgun, hitting four people, including Johnson. Police have not yet released any information regarding the weapon used in the shooting.
All four people were rushed to area hospitals where two people died. Three of the four people have been confirmed as being staff members of YWAM.
Paul Filidis of YWAM Colorado Springs says Johnson and 24-year-old Philip Crouse of Alaska, were killed. He says their families have been notified and are on their way to Colorado.
According to Filidis and Warren, the third victim, 24-year-old Dan Griebenow of South Dakota, has a bullet in his neck and is listed in critical but stable condition. Griebenow joined the staff in the winter of 2007, according to YWAM's Web site.
Filidis says the fourth victim, 22-year-old Charlie Blanch, suffered gunshot wounds to his leg. Blanch has been a staff member of YWAM since the fall of 2006, according to their Web site.
Kevin Moloney for The New York Times--There was a heavy police presence at the Faith Bible Chapel campus in Arvada, Colo., on Sunday morning after a shooting left two missionaries-in-training dead
**Update 2--another shooting outside a church in Colorado Springs, 4 injured:
At least four people were shot outside New Life Church on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear if any of them died, El Paso County Sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene said.Two shootings at churches within the same day, less than a two-hour drive apart? Too creepy--and if the moron moonbat comment posted below is any indication, we may see more of this activity in the future.
It was not immediately known if the shootings were connected with shootings earlier Sunday at a missionary training center in the Denver suburb of Arvada some 65 miles to the north. Two people died in the Arvada incident.
Lance Coles, a pastor at New Life Church, told The Associated Press he received a report that a man was shooting at people in the church parking lot and that the gunman may have entered the church.
New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three year cash-for-sex relationship.
**There is no indication at this point that either shooting is religiously motivated--they could be random or personally motivated--but if there is a connection and the shootings were inspired by the victims' religion, then how long will it take before the MSM picks up on this?
Earlier--
Breaking from Arvada--now with video:
A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early today and opened fire, shooting four people.Not much to go on at this point--whether or not the intended targets were chosen because of their religious affiliation or simply victims of convenience; what exactly the suspect looks like with more definition (skull cap and beard); any connection (possibly inspiration) from the recent shooting in Omaha, Nebraska. Details are sketchy at this point, and so speculation should be held to a minimum until more evidence comes in.
Two people, one male and one female both in their mid-20s, died and one is in critical condition, 9News reported. The condition of the fourth victim was not immediately available.
The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center near West 64th Avenue and Ward Road, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory.
The gunman was still at large this morning.
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.
The targets, at least initially, look to be more than victims in "the wrong place at the wrong time", and the suspect's initial description is just a little disconcerting.
**Moron moonbat logic and hatemongering update from comments:
So the shooter killed only two and wounded two others. Too bad he didn't have more time to get some more. Religious missionaries are very legitimate targets since they stick their noses into other people's private religious affairs. America needs more shootings like this in the future to put the religious fanatics and loonies in their place.
Labels: arvada, christian missionaries, church shootings
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