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2007-12-11 -Lurid Crime Tales-

Woman Church Security Gaurd who "took down" the Gunman

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Posted by www 2007-12-11 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 It remains to be seen if Assam's weapon fired the fatal shots. A unarmed male vet attempted to confront the gunman, but was shot for his trouble. Two armed male security guards did not use their weapons.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-12-11 00:41|| 2007-12-11 00:41|| Front Page Top

#2 I heard an unarmed male vet pleaded with one of the guards to give him his gun because he was a vet so he could take the a$$hole out. The only response he got was "Get behind me!". The vet had to give up and ended up insulting the guy to draw his fire while the gal got into position to take care of the aforementioned a$$hole (whose name I shall never utter or seek out) in a way that saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of wasted time and money.

I wonder if this vet is the same one who got shot.

While it is nice to act as a human shield, it is not any kind of solution. It would have been nicer if he had been willing to use his weapon as he was obligated to do being a security guard and all, or at least have the sense to give the vet his gun.

Anybody know why someone would be trained and certified as the kind of guard that carries a weapon and yet not be at least able to draw that weapon? It seems like at least two of these folks had never even addressed the basic issues of what it meant to be entrusted with a weapon and told to protect those around them. You'd think that for a large part only combat experienced vets would hold this kind of job these days, or people who had been through live-fire training and at least had a rough idea which end was up! Any ideas?

The name Assam sounds Muslim. Is she?

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 01:50|| 2007-12-11 01:50|| Front Page Top

#3 If she is, does that change anything?

Posted by Slump Grundy8537 2007-12-11 02:05|| 2007-12-11 02:05|| Front Page Top

#4 Dude, she was a member of a fundamentalist Christian church who was so involved in her congregation that she went to early services then volunteered to work security for the later services. Prolly not a muslim.

The good news was that there were multiple armed parishioners there. Thank God. A lesson was learned from VA Tech, where there were no guns but those brought in by the twisted asshole murderer.

Posted by JAB 2007-12-11 02:32|| 2007-12-11 02:32|| Front Page Top

#5 If she is, does that change anything?

Not for the folks at the church, either way.

But reading stories where Muslims do good deeds makes me feel more optimistic about individual muslims and resultantly less pessimistic/negative about Islam.

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 02:51|| 2007-12-11 02:51|| Front Page Top

#6 The good news was that there were multiple armed parishioners there.

It's good they were there, but did they contribute to taking the guy out? I don't know. I suspect they didn't because the hired guard did all that. I suspect that had she not been there, then they may have well been the salvation of quite a few more people because the guy had all kinds of weapons and ammo. I don't know if he had them on him or not, but I heard he shot up the parking lot pretty good before entering the church.

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 02:55|| 2007-12-11 02:55|| Front Page Top

#7 A security guard loaning his gun to a civilian so that the civilian can use deadly force...jeez that's just got ACLU lawsuit written all over it. They'd have a field day.

Posted by gromky 2007-12-11 03:45|| 2007-12-11 03:45|| Front Page Top

#8 Assam was not hired, a volunteer.

After the first shooting, a number of parishoners volunteered to act as security for the upcoming service. Assam was the one who shot the gunman. Don't know what others did.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2007-12-11 03:49|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2007-12-11 03:49|| Front Page Top

#9 Assam , beside being an Indian state, is an Arab Christian surname.

Posted by Spike Uniter 2007-12-11 03:58|| 2007-12-11 03:58|| Front Page Top

#10 A security guard loaning his gun to a civilian so that the civilian can use deadly force...jeez that's just got ACLU lawsuit written all over it. They'd have a field day.

They'd look like the total d!ckheads they are. Not that it has ever even slowed them down in the past. ~>:-(

Wouldn't this fall under the category that people are entitled to do what is necessary to survive?

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 04:27|| 2007-12-11 04:27|| Front Page Top

#11 Don't know about the law in Colorado or how the courts in the Springs would rule vs. the state courts.

IIUC Assam has some law enforcement background. Her actions suggest it. One difference between LE and military training is that the former stresses avoiding collateral casualties more strongly than the latter. Assam showed cool and professional discipline in her choice of place and line of fire.

Posted by lotp 2007-12-11 07:20|| 2007-12-11 07:20|| Front Page Top

#12 OK, backgroun on Assam:

She worked in law enforcement in the 1990s in North Michigan. She is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. She actually put in place the security plan for the church.

As for the law:

Fourth Judicial District Attorney John Newsome, in a statement released Monday, said that Assams actions appeared to not only be appropriate, but also justified under Colorado law.

I don't know about her ethnic background, but she doesn't look Middle Eastern. Maybe Greek.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-12-11 08:07|| 2007-12-11 08:07|| Front Page Top

#13 "The name Assam sounds Muslim. Is she?"

The security guard is not Muslim. She mentioned being guided by God and the Holy Spirit therefore she believes in the Trinity, which Muslims do not recognize. She is a solid "old school" Christian. She is employed by an Evangelical Christian organization.

Posted by www 2007-12-11 08:27|| 2007-12-11 08:27|| Front Page Top

#14 I heard that the Church put on extra security that morning vecause the crazy duded was about. P.S. Good shooting and may his troubled soul rest in peace.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2007-12-11 08:29|| 2007-12-11 08:29|| Front Page Top

#15 A video interview with Jeanne. Calm as a Minnesota snowy morning and a thousand times deadlier.

Posted by Icerigger">Icerigger 2007-12-11 08:56|| http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm]">[http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm] 2007-12-11 08:56|| Front Page Top

#16 from the Denver Post:

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he's ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, watched as a security guard, later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

"She just started walking toward the gunman, firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender!' walking and shooting the whole time."

Bourbonnais, 59, had just finished a hamburger in the cafeteria on the sprawling church campus when he heard gunfire, he recalled.

He headed in the direction of the shots as frightened people ran past him looking to escape to safety.

"Where's the shooter? Where's the shooter?" Bourbonnais kept yelling, he recalled.

Near an entryway in the church, Bourbonnais came upon the gunman and an armed male church security guard, who was there with his gun drawn but not firing, he said.

Bourbonnais said he pleaded with the armed guard to give him his weapon. "Give me your handgun. I've been in combat, and I'm going to take this guy out," Bourbonnais recalled telling the guard.

"He kept yelling, 'Get behind me! Get behind me!' He wouldn't hand me his weapon, but he wouldn't do anything."

There was an additional armed security guard there, another man, who also didn't fire, Bourbonnais said.

Bourbonnais yelled at the gunman to draw his attention, he said.

"First, I called him 'Coward,' then I called him 'Shead' " Bourbonnais said. "I probably shouldn't have been saying that in church."

That's when the shooter pointed one of his guns at Bourbonnais and fired, he said. Bourbonnais ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by a bullet and fragments of the pillar.

At about that moment, Assam, 42, turned a corner with a drawn handgun, walked toward the gunman and yelled "Surrender!" Bourbonnais said.

The gunman pointed a handgun at Assam and fired three shots, Bourbonnais said. She returned fire and just kept walking toward the gunman, pressing off round after round.

After the gunman went down, Bourbonnais asked Assam, a volunteer security guard with the church, how she remained so calm and focused.

Bourbonnais said she replied: "I was asking the Holy Spirit to guide me the entire time."

Posted by lotp 2007-12-11 09:26|| 2007-12-11 09:26|| Front Page Top

#17 "I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill.

"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's posting at a web site Sunday morning between the time he had killed two people at a Missionary Campus and when he attacked New Life Church later that same morning. Same wording as was used by Harris, one of the shooters at Columbine, except that Christians was exchanged for the intended victims of the shooter.

Murray placed smoke canisters at two of the three entrances to the New Life complex (the South and North entrance) to trap the congregation in the complex, then proceeded to the third and final entrance, the East entrance, where he shot several people near the entrance, entered and was taken down by Jeanne Assam after she saw the smoke canisters and saw him enter. They were both going towards each other firing at each other down a long corridor. He fired three shots at Jeanne and missed all three times, her shots were on target.

This is the link to a graphic of events at New Life Church.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=1749606

Posted by www 2007-12-11 10:48|| 2007-12-11 10:48|| Front Page Top

#18 There are some reports the gunny killed himself. But there is no doubt that Ms. Assam saved the lives of many parishoners.

Posted by Seafarious 2007-12-11 10:52|| 2007-12-11 10:52|| Front Page Top

#19 Ronaldus Magnus would have made her the first one introduced at the nest State of the Union address.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-12-11 11:08|| 2007-12-11 11:08|| Front Page Top

#20 I'm surprised nobody (neither here nor anywhere else, it seems) has mentioned the fact that not only is Ms. Assam courageous, she's pretty darn hot, too!

Posted by gb506 2007-12-11 11:20|| 2007-12-11 11:20|| Front Page Top

#21 Assam, beside being an Indian state, is an Arab Christian surname.

Thanks for that key bit of information, Spike Uniter. So that's what Indians look like, blond. Beautiful woman, outside as well as in. A pack, not a herd, indeed.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2007-12-11 12:04|| 2007-12-11 12:04|| Front Page Top

#22 She was on Larry King last night.

She is single and looking, BTW. Though I would suspect you'd have to be well mannered around a blonde with a gun.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2007-12-11 12:33|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2007-12-11 12:33|| Front Page Top

#23 I'm really shocked: it appears that one of the individuals killed previously is a cousin of a member of my church, who asked for prayer for the family during a bible study Monday night.

Jeanne Assam? Jeanne D'Arc! Bravo!

Posted by Ptah">Ptah 2007-12-11 12:51|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2007-12-11 12:51|| Front Page Top

#24 Well, if Assam is a volunteer, she is technically not a security guard. She is a citizen with a concealed carry permit. Of course the MSM will not bring that up.

It sounds like she did all the right things. First she went for cover, then she acquired her target, making sure that she did not send stray bullets into innocents. Then she kept up a train of disciplined fire until the threat was eliminated. She fought like she trained, and that saved her and many other parisioners. Pretty inspiring.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-12-11 13:51|| 2007-12-11 13:51|| Front Page Top

#25 Since Ms. Assam is (a) an American (b) who had a gun and (c) who used a gun to shoot somebody and then (d) spoke on TV about -- oh no!-- her religious faith, I expected to see the European press torque itself like a pretzel today, but a quick look doesn't show anything. Maybe Der Spiegel hasn't gotten the word, or maybe they make an exception for good shots.

Posted by Matt 2007-12-11 14:56|| 2007-12-11 14:56|| Front Page Top

#26 New updates state that while the perp was wounded by Assam, he saved us taxpayers a lot of cash and bother with a self-administered coup de grace.

I'm pleased to hear that. Assam certainly had her act together and seems to have accepted that she did the right thing given the circumstances, but she can also breathe a little easier knowing it wasn't her bullets that finished the job. After all, few people want a death on their conscience, no matter how badly the P.O.S. deserved it.

Posted by Dar">Dar 2007-12-11 15:06|| 2007-12-11 15:06|| Front Page Top

#27 Indeed, her shots hit the shooter and then the shooter inflicted the mortal shot to himself.

Mineapolas Police say that Assam was fired for lying to internal investigators about cussing out a bus driver during a response involving an incident on the bus. That is interesting, I hear transit cops in my city cussing out unruly riders all the time when they are called to a situation now a days. They don't get fired.

D*#@!mnit! She is still a hero and a saint!

Posted by www 2007-12-11 15:14|| 2007-12-11 15:14|| Front Page Top

#28 "She just started walking toward the gunman, firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender!' walking and shooting the whole time."

Nerve. God Bless her!

Posted by Icerigger">Icerigger 2007-12-11 16:02|| http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm]">[http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm] 2007-12-11 16:02|| Front Page Top

#29 "Well, if Assam is a volunteer, she is technically not a security guard. She is a citizen with a concealed carry permit."

She is the personal security guard for the pastor. She volunteered for church security after hearing about the prior attack.

Posted by DepotGuy 2007-12-11 16:50|| 2007-12-11 16:50|| Front Page Top

#30 She is brave, curses, can shoot straight, and is a babe! Oh if I was only 15 years younger.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2007-12-11 22:29|| 2007-12-11 22:29|| Front Page Top

#31 Democratic Congressmen are reviewing all Medal Of Honor recipients to see if any of the them ever cussed while on duty. If so the Medal will be recinded...

/Sarcasm

Posted by www 2007-12-11 22:53|| 2007-12-11 22:53|| Front Page Top

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