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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Gunman kills 2 in missionary center (Arvada CO) |
| 2007-12-09 |
| ARVADA, Colo. - A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday and opened fire, killing two of the center's staff members and wounding two others. No arrests had been made by late morning. The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory in this Denver suburb and moved to an undisclosed location. A man and a woman were killed and two men were wounded, Medina said. All four victims were staff members, said Paul Filidis, a Colorado Springs-based spokesman with Youth With a Mission. Brady White, who attends Faith Bible Chapel, where the center is located, said he spoke to some students there, who were unhurt but called the experience "terrifying." "They're just wonderful people," White said of the center's students. "Their mission is to know God and to make him known." Police identified the victims as Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 23. Youth With a Mission said Johnson was from Minnesota and Crouse was from Alaska. Their hometowns weren't immediately available. Cheril Morrison, wife of chapel pastor George Morrison, said Crouse had just hung up Christmas lights at her home and Johnson was "an amazingly beautiful person." One of the injured men was hospitalized in critical condition and the other was in stable condition, police said. Both are in their 20s. Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap, who left on foot. He may have glasses or a beard. "There's no blueprint for this, we're just going to be honest and pray for one another, cry with one another," center director Peter Warren told KUSA-TV. "Who knows what was going on in this young man's life." Police with several dogs searched the area through the night, and residents of nearby homes were notified by reverse 911 to be on the lookout. Medina said residents were asked to look out their windows to see the snow had been disturbed during the night. About 4 inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day. Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received the warning call at about 9 a.m. warning neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked. "Why would anybody want to hurt those kids?" Martin said. "I just pray for their families." People bundled up against freezing cold attended Sunday services at the sanctuary, about 300 yards from the dormitory on the campus of the Faith Bible Chapel. Police kept tight security on the chapel grounds. "We never doubted that we would have a service," said Cheril Morrison. "We felt like our church faithful all needed to be together." Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week discipleship course that prepares them to be missionaries. He said the center trains about 300 people a year. Filidis said staffers are usually former missionaries themselves and that the "mercy ministries" performed by trainees include orphanage work. He said he didn't know where the group being trained in Arvada was going to be sent. Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center was founded in 1984. Our heartfelt condolences to the victims, their families, and their friends. Youth with a Mission is quite a large organization, with activities in 149 countries. |
| Posted by:Angique Gonque2974 |
| #1 UPDATE There has been a second shooting in the same area, this time in the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. COLORADO SPRINGS - Gunfire erupted in the 10,000-plus member New Life Church on Sunday at around 1:20 p.m. El Paso County Sheriff's office says there are two to three victims, possibly including the shooter. It was the second shooting of the day at a religious organization. 9NEWS and 9NEWS.com will update this story as more information becomes available. |
| Posted by: Angique Gonque2974 2007-12-09 15:54 |