This isn't the Arvada one. It's an entirely different shooting. Five shooting victims total, two dead.
"The incident happened just after 1:00 Sunday afternoon when a unidentified young man armed with an assault rifle opened fire in the church parking lot. He was quickly shot and killed by a female church security guard. Pastor Boyd says the church had added security that day due another shooting at a youth mission just outside Denver that happened early Sunday morning."
I'd guess this was a copycat shooting, especially after that first mall idiot got his name in all the media reports, let alone the Arvada one.
At least the security guard took him down before he could get too far. Point in favour of that argument, I think.
Though this is a different story, they believe the two are connected and the shooter is one in the same.
The New Life Church is affiliated with the YWAM center in Arvada and prior to the shooting at the Springs' Church, the Church was put on Lockdown. The man was shot & taken down by an armed volunteer. It is reported the "Armed volunteer" is a Security Guard, though it is not clear whether that is actually the case, or if it was a member of the Church's Security team, which may include CCW Holders and whether or not the person who took down the shooter was one of these armed citizens.
Remember Ted Haggart? This is/was his church.
There are reports that the shooter was molested by Ted Haggart as a young boy. Mr. Haggart offered a scholarship to the Colorado College of the boy's choice. When that didn't happen, because of the Ted Haggart scandal, this is what the 24 year old was driven to do.
Not too far from my apartment, Englewood, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Dept. raided a home believed to be that of the shooter to search for evidence, clues and whether or not this is/will be some kind of staged event by more than one person.
It is being reported here in Denver on local talk radio that the shooter showed up at the Springs' Church with body armor (Bullet Proof Vest), and an assault-type helmet that you can mail order or buy at one of the local Army/Navy stores.
It is being reported the man used a long-arm. I am not sure what exactly, but they are saying he did not have any handguns with him.
They are also reporting that at the YWAM center, that the man had a beanie on his head, but it is unclear. They are saying he appeared Muslim. They are saying he was white with a beanie or small turban and a full black beard.
We have very good talk show hosts here in Denver who only report substantiated claims and do not throw random reports out without first researching them and feelign confident enough in their authenticity.
I will try to keep ya'll up to date on what I hear here locally.
Don't listen to the Denver Post or Rocky Mountain News or many of the other news-organizations here, as they are generally not concerned about relaying the real information. The Denver Herald is a great newspaper, and though it is a small newspaper, it is pretty trustworthy. Here is the DH website: Denver Herald News
Denver and CO in general are not stranger to these types of events. We have had quite a few police officers killed in the line of duty by random violence. We had Bailey, CO School incident, Columbine... I am sure the various agencies involved in this investigation have prepared to properly deal with it. We shall see.
The reason they are questioning the intentions of this man are because he went to the Arvada Center and asked if he could stay the night. But, now they are finding out he had a home in Englewood, so why would he need to stay in a Youth Center? They are beginning to piece this together, and this early in the story, they are saying it was all planned from the beginning. The shootings took place about 12 hours apart and allowed plenty of time for him to be the person in both shootings. We had a storm Saturday night and it stuck to the roads. I would say it would have taken about two times as long to get from Denver to CO Springs, which is a distance of about 63 miles. Certainly many unanswered questions in this event.
God Help Us.
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Don't let their ignorance and hate intimidate.
Live News Press Conference is happening now. Listening to it on the radio.
The shooter has been identified as 24 y.o. Matthew Murray.
Murray man was found with over 1000 rounds of ammunition in his backpack. He did have what the Colorado Springs Police Commissioner deems "an assault rifle" (he also called the magazines "clips") Murray also had 2 handguns.
Murray was associated with the YWAM center in Arvada in the past, though reason for his break with that center is unknown. His description matches that of the shooter at the Arvada Center.
Murray is the son of a Neurosurgeon who lives here in Englewood, CO. (Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be silverspoons...)
The woman who shot Murray at the Church is a retired Law Enforcement Officer who has a CCW permit as well as performs as the minister's (of the New Life Church) personal guard. The shooter was confronted by at least 3 individuals with firearms. This woman is the only one who approached and shot the man. The other 2, men, froze in place. I don't blame them, I am just saying. One victim was pleading with one of them men to give HIM their firearm, as he was ex-military and had been trained to deal with it. Sidenote: Hmm, maybe you'll get your CCW now Mr. Ex-Military???
The woman who took down the shooter will be interviewed by the radio talk show within the hour.
If interested, you can go to www.KHOW.com and listen livestream via the "Listen Live" link. No signups or registration is necessary.
According to the media he had been kicked out of the first church three years before and hated Christians.
I don't know about hateing Christians,but it sounds more like a case of sour grapes from getting the boot!
Of course if it were about another religion it would instantly be labeled a hate crime,but in this case it appears to be more personel.
Have to wonder how he hit the guy behind the pillar with ONE shot, but missed the woman coming at him with THREE shots. There was SOMETHING watching out for her, that is for sure.
Although, the guy behind the pillar wasn't shooting back, which can inflict a bit of misguidance, but...
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Don't let their ignorance and hate intimidate.
CCW permits work, gun control doesn't, simple as that. The other two froze, how pathetic. Is the Brady Bunch listening to this. I hope so. An Armed society is a polite society.
Now the media is saying that the a-hole killed himself, and Jeanne Assam the hero volunteer security guard only wounded him... Thats B.S. created by the media and maybe uncle sam to keep the focus on anti-gun... the church acted quickly and did a great job to protect themselves by having parishioners act as guards period.. !!!! BRAVO
I am doubting very much if this is the truth. But, even if he did shoot himself, I am sure he would have went as far as he could before doing so. Ms. Assam is still a hero and averted a disaster at that church. 50-200 people could have lost their lives before this guy killed himself and if the armed citizens not there, prepared to respond.
__________________
Don't let their ignorance and hate intimidate.
Don't quote me on this but I think the law regulating what type of firearm a security guard can carry (in Colorado Springs) and how much ammo is going to be put up for review. Supposedly this gunman had 1,000 rounds and the security guards were only allowed 8 rounds or something like that. They are only permitted to carry revolvers. That may all change now.
Now the media is saying that the a-hole killed himself, and Jeanne Assam the hero volunteer security guard only wounded him... Thats B.S. created by the media and maybe uncle sam to keep the focus on anti-gun... the church acted quickly and did a great job to protect themselves by having parishioners act as guards period.. !!!! BRAVO
I don't think they're trying to minimize what she did. All the articles I read pointed out that she had brought him down and put him out of commission with multiple hits; he just finished the job.
It wouldn't surprise me too much if he did kill himself. It seems a lot of these mass shooters do that when they realize the fun's over. Likely the guard hit him enough times that he knew he was done and didn't want to be taken into custody. He did specifically mention in his web rantings that he didn't care if he died.
I am enjoying watching the media squirm on this one. They can't really spin it anti-gun since an armed guard did bring the rampage to an end, even if she didn't kill him.
An artical in the Rocky Mountain News today stated she emptied her gun into him, all 10 rounds. It wasn't specific enough to state if all 10 hit him or not. Does it matter if her bullit killed him? Her bullit stopped him.
I saw an interview with Geraldo Rivera, yea I know, dont groan. He was commenting in support of armed guards complete with the necessary training to do what was done here. I sensed that it was a 180* turn in the media from the normal do we need to take away all the guns commentary.
