4 dead in 2 religious center shootings

[Kacey]

From our NBC news affiliate, 9News:

ARVADA - 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.

COLORADO SPRINGS – Authorities say six people, including the gunman, were shot on Sunday in the second shooting of the day at a Colorado religious center.

No one can say, at this time, if the gunman was the same in both incidents... so the gunman from the Arvada shootings may still be at large.

 

[Sukerkin]

Words fail me yet again when it comes to adequately expressing my despair at such events.

I may have no belief in a divine creator and even feel that organised religions cause far more harm than they do good but that does not mean that the 'grassroots' members of such faiths are not people who by any yardstick would be deemed to be 'good humans'.

To have such slain so senselessly diminishes us all.

 

[BrandiJo]

wow

.:asian:

 

[Steel Tiger]

I thought at first it might have been someone with a grudge against a particular institution, but upon further reading this was not the case. It looks like its just one, probably two, nasty souls who want to destroy someone else because they have the means.

Tell me, is Christmas normally a time when crazies come out in the US? Because it sure looks that way this year.

 

[terryl965]

Words fail me yet again when it comes to adequately expressing my despair at such events.

I may have no belief in a divine creator and even feel that organised religions cause far more harm than they do good but that does not mean that the 'grassroots' members of such faiths are not people who by any yardstick would be deemed to be 'good humans'.

To have such slain so senselessly diminishes us all.

I agree and have nothing more to say.

 

[That One Guy]

does anyone remember the last time some psychotic, homicidal atheist started running around shooting people for no reason?

 

[BrandiJo]

I am very religious. I feel for the people who when to church today or when to whatever class they felt they where meant to be at just to have some nut job cut short their life and the work they where meant to do. You don't go to a missionary training camp to sit on your duff and do nothing, you go so that you can ultimately help others and sadly those 4 may never have that chance anymore.

While i do not know what sort of thing the other group was attending i am sure they will still going for the betterment of them selfs and instead lost the precious gift of life. It is a very sad day when our churches aren't even safe from this kind of thing.

 

[tellner]

I've got little love and less time for missionaries. But I deeply regret the senseless loss of innocent life and the way that it was cruelly done at a time that is supposed to be festive and spiritual. My prayers go to their families and to the hope that the murderers will be brought to justice.

 

[Kacey]

Additional details:

The Denver Post
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A gunman killed two staff members at a missionary training center near Denver early Sunday after being told he couldn't spend the night. About 12 hours later, a gunman fatally shot a person at a megachurch in Colorado Springs before a guard killed him, police said. The gunman at the New Life Church was shot and killed by a church security guard after entering the church's main foyer with high-powered rifle shortly before 1 p.m. and opening fire, Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said. Four others were wounded, Myers said. It was not immediately known whether the Colorado Springs shooting was related to the crime in Arvada, a Denver suburb about 65 miles to the north. A rifle was used in Colorado Springs, while a handgun was used in Arvada.
Authorities in Arvada said no one had been captured in the shootings there. But Arvada Police Chief Bob Wick, asked if he believed there was reason to think the shootings are related, responded, "Yes, there is reason to believe that." He declined to elaborate during an evening news conference.
A church member died of wounds inflicted by the gunman, Senior Pastor Brady Boyd said. At the time, hundreds of people were milling about and parents were picking up their children from the nursery.

The Denver Post
Police said Sunday evening that they "have reason to believe" that attacks on religious facilities in Arvada and Colorado Springs 13 hours apart were related.
The shootings, at 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Arvada, and 1:10 p.m. at Colorado Springs' New Life Church left a total of three dead and six injured before the shooter was killed by a New Life security team member.
Arvada Police Chief Don Wick said his agency sent officers to confer with Colorado Springs Police.
"We have reason to believe that the two may be related," Wick said. Asked if that meant a single gunman was responsible for both crime scenes, Wick declined to elaborate.
In Arvada, Tiffany Johnson, 26, was killed at a Youth With a Mission dormitory when she declined to provide shelter to a man in his 20s seeking a place to sleep. As Johnson started to offer him alternatives, the man opened fire, killing Johnson, and Philip Crouse, 24. Two other staffers, who were waiting up for stragglers from a youth bowling trip to return, were wounded before the man ran away through the snow.

A half a day later and 70 miles away, a heavily armed man roughly matching the same description as the Arvada gunman opened fire on a van in the New Life Church parking lot. One person, whose identity was not released Sunday night, was killed. The gunman then entered the church and began firing with a high-powered rifle before a security team member shot and killed him.

 

[MJS]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families in yet another tragic event. It really makes me wonder about what goes thru the mind of people that do this. Do they just snap? Do they show signs and friends and family are blind to the signs?

 

[CanuckMA]

2 things wet through my mind when I heard about this. One was sorrow for the victims and their families.

The other was what kind of world do we live in when a church needs to have armed security guards on staff?

 

[Tez3]

2 things wet through my mind when I heard about this. One was sorrow for the victims and their families.

The other was what kind of world do we live in when a church needs to have armed security guards on staff?

Canuck you said exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Live True]

The festivity and joy for many is a bitter contrast and goad to pain and anger for some. I know the first Yule without my mother was all the more bittersweet because I was surrounded by such happiness and joy. For someone with less or with internal mental anguish...Still, if I'm reading this correctly, this incident could have happened at any time of the year. It was an angry and armed man, denied shelter (that part's a bit ironic), and willing to to use force. While I share no fondness for missionaries, either; I weep for the sudden and senseless deaths and the scars that will remain.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

My thoughts and prayer's go out to the grieving families!

 

[tellner]

It looks like the perpetrator has been identified. G-d willing he was acting alone.

 

[Omar B]

It's a sad day indeed.

 

[KenpoTex]

a very sad situation to say the least.

On the other hand, it would definately have been worse if a CCW holder had not engaged and neutalized the threat. Good for her!​