Police link Colorado gun attacks

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Police link Colorado gun attacks

 

US police say they believe the same man carried out two fatal shootings at religious sites in Colorado on Sunday.

 

They have named him as Matthew Murray, 24, from Denver, who failed to complete a missionary training course at one of the sites, in a suburb of the city.

 

The training centre has an office at the other site, a megachurch in Colorado Springs.

 

Five people were killed in the attacks, including the gunman himself. His family has apologised.

 

The first two to die were Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24. Two other men were wounded. They were attacked after midnight at the Youth With A Mission training centre in the Denver suburb of Arvada.

 

The centre said Mr Murray had begun a training programme there in 2002 but left without completing it for unspecified health reasons.

 

The second attack took place 105km (65m) away and 12 hours later at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

 

The gunman opened fire in the car park and then walked into the huge church as the 7,000-strong congregation was filing out.

 

Sisters Stephanie and Rachel Works, aged 18 and 16, were killed before Mr Murray himself was shot dead by volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam, an ex-policewoman.

 

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she told a news conference later.

 

Hatred

 

Pastor Brady Boyd praised the security guard, and said security at his church had been stepped up after the news of the shooting in Denver.

 

"Although we are grieving today for the loss of two lives, hundreds of lives were saved yesterday because of the plans that were set in place," he told reporters.

 

Mr Murray did not have a criminal record but "hated Christians", one unnamed law enforcement official told the Associated Press news agency.

 

He is said to come from a deeply Christian family. His father is reported to be a leading researcher into the disease multiple sclerosis.

 

Mr Murray's relatives issued a statement of apology.

 

"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," it said.

 

"We cannot understand why this has happened."

 

The attacks came just four days after a 19-year-old man killed eight people and himself at a busy shopping centre in Omaha, Nebraska.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7137615.stm

[taks]

i used to work next door to that place. one of the camera shots that showed the big tent in the foreground and the new life building immediately behind it (with pike's peak way off in the distance) was where i often stopped for a quick smoke break. it is sad that people can become unhinged to the point of willfully killing others for no real reason. yes, i know he "hated christians," but that's not a real reason, that's just mental instability. lots of people in the world "hate christians," but they aren't all blowing them away to solve their problems with them.

 

taks

[Sand]

As much as I dislike Christianity, and to an extent of any organized religion, I would most certainly not go about shooting them. Even those I truly detest such as that Phelps guy I would never seek to do violence on because that sort of thing is just wrong. A verbal spat I have no problem with. I guess it is the season in which people snap I guess. FIrst the Mall incident then this. Damn crazies. Only a coward would shoot at unarmed people.

Edited December 11, 2007 by Sand

[Gorth]

So, he went on a killing spree because he failed to get a missionary position?

 

Makes you wonder what kind of missionary he could have ended up being if he had passed the test. It would probably have involved a lot of fire and brimstone. Maybe he should have applied at Blackwaters instead?!?

[taks]

into, a missionary position, is probably what really went down. she must've said "not this soon," or something... so he went a gunnin' for vengeance.

 

taks

[Meshugger]

into, a missionary position, is probably what really went down. she must've said "not this soon," or something... so he went a gunnin' for vengeance.

 

taks

 

Wait, what?

[Walsingham]

So, he went on a killing spree because he failed to get a missionary position?

 

Makes you wonder what kind of missionary he could have ended up being if he had passed the test. It would probably have involved a lot of fire and brimstone. Maybe he should have applied at Blackwaters instead?!?

 

The Holy Fathers of the Perpetual Chaingun.

[Dark_Raven]

Ah yes humor about death.

[Walsingham]

Ah yes humor about death.

 

This chap killed all these people in order to get famous and (presumably) be a figure of fear. Mockery of him seems more than in order. I've already deliberately forgotten his name.

[Sand]

Exactly my view of it, Walsh.

[Dark_Raven]

Who?

[Walsingham]

Exactly my view of it, Walsh.

 

If you and I agree isn't that like crossing the streams?

[Sand]

Exactly my view of it, Walsh.

 

If you and I agree isn't that like crossing the streams?

Yes, but I like roasting marshmellows.

[Xard]

 

Here have some watermelons both of you

Edited December 13, 2007 by Gorth
Politically incorrect watermelon

[Aram]

See, when the shooting takes place somewhere CCW is allowed, and somebody has a gun to defend themselves, the shooting is far less successful than in the blissful "gun free" zones. That one lady with a concealed handgun probably saved the lives of everyone else there.

[Walsingham]

Aram is right, but notice that this was a lady who had been TRAINED and knew how to handle a firearm. If the whole congregation had been armed like as not they'd have shot more of their own than he would've.

 

Sorry, I ought've let you take that point.

[Aram]

She's an ex traffic cop. The amount of training they'd have given her professionally would have been very basic--I know with absolute certainty that the average traffic cop shoots no better than the average CCW holder. I don't know her level of skill, but if she's better than average it's due to her own self-honed ability rather than police training.

 

And while I won't belittle the danger of stray shots, I'd think friendly fire from any hundred handguns would be less likely to hit a person than the shots from the gunman's rifle specifically aimed at helpless pedestrians.

[Walsingham]

A hit. A very palpable hit.

[Dark_Raven]

That it was. Now if anyone could carry a gun around like the old West, there would be fewer idiots out there willing to go postal since they would be taken down fast.

[Walsingham]

That it was. Now if anyone could carry a gun around like the old West, there would be fewer idiots out there willing to go postal since they would be taken down fast.

 

I'm not sure that's true. You want everyone who's falling over drunk to be armed?

[Hurlshort]

That it was. Now if anyone could carry a gun around like the old West, there would be fewer idiots out there willing to go postal since they would be taken down fast.

 

Woohoo, exchange shooting sprees for more 1 on 1 murders.

[Nick_i_am]

Well, she has a point, most sprees are calculated to cause maximum damage, and people being unable to fight back is part of that calculation.

 

However, this having any actual effect on the number of attacks or the casualties per attack is a total grey area and her post completely ignores any of the wider socal implications of 'moar gunz plz'.

[Walsingham]

I think the point _may_ be that we have a shooting spree every two years, whereas the USA sees tens of thousands of one on one murders.