Mike and Lindy Waskosky

I got this in an email. Please pray for everyone involved.

Police were searching a home in suburban Denver early today (Monday, Dec 10), as they looked for clues in deadly attacks at two Colorado religious institutions on the weekend. The two shootings, the first at the Youth with a Mission (YWAM) Missionary Center in Arvada and the second at New Life Church, a Colorado Springs megachurch, that left a gunman and four victims dead along with six wounded.

 

Authorities believe it was the same gunman, identified as 24-year-old Matthew Murray of Englewood, Colo., who went on the shooting rampage at both locations. Court papers say the shooter was a frustrated would-be missionary kicked out of the YWAM youth program three years who sought revenge by killing four people in Arvada and Colorado Springs.

“Through both investigations it has been determined that most likely the suspect in both shootings are one in the same,” police wrote.

 

“The common denominator in both locations is a church-based group called Youth with a Mission,” Detective Bradley Pratt wrote in court papers. “It appears that the suspect had been kicked out of the program three years prior and during the past few weeks had sent different forms of hate mail to the program and/or its director.”

 

In the first incident, the lone gunman entered the YWAM facility in the Denver suburb of Arvada at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 9. Police said a man with a beard, wearing a dark jacket, glasses, and skullcap, got into a dispute with a staff member about whether he could stay there for the night. When the staff member refused, the gunman opened fire, hitting four members of the staff. All were taken to local hospitals and two later died of their injuries.

 

The deceased have been identified as Tiffany Johnson, 26, from Minnesota and Philip Crouse, 24, from Alaska. Both served as staff members at the YWAM Arvada campus. The third victim, Dan Griebenow, 24, has a bullet in his neck and is listed in critical but stable condition. The fourth victim Charlie Blanch, 22, suffered gunshot wounds to his legs.

 

Investigators tried to track the gunman through fresh snow with the help of dogs, but lost his trail in a heavily walked area, said Deputy Chief Gary Creager of Arvada police.

 

The second shooting began shortly after 1 p.m. at the church — about 70 miles south of Arvada — when a black-clad gunman opened fire on worshipers at New Life Church, killing two (one who died immediately and the other who later died in the hospital) and wounding four. A female security guard confronted and killed the shooter. Lt. Skip Arms of the Colorado Springs Police Department said she likely “saved this tragedy from becoming a lot worse than it is.”

 

Killed at New Life were 18-year-old Stephanie Works and her sister, 16-year-old Rachael Works. Their father, David Works, who was shot twice and remains hospitalized in fair condition. His wife, Marie Works, and two other daughters were uninjured.

 

Peter Warren, director of YWAM Denver, said the young man “must have been going through a lot personally in his own life to do something like this. Our belief is that only God is the judge and our place is to forgive. That’s a difficult thing to do, but really, I think it’s the right thing to do.”

 

The approximately 80 people living on the Arvada campus have been transported to the group’s mountain campus near Golden, Colo., where they will stay while the murder investigation is processed at their residence. Warren says they are trying to deal with this situation as best as they can.

 

“There’s no blueprint for this,” said Warren. “You know, we’re just going to be honest, we’re going to pray with one another and cry with one another. These kids were like our kids, you know. It’s just such a tragedy, but who knows what’s going on in this young man’s life.”

 

In a press conference, New Life Senior Pastor Brady Boyd added, “My heart is broken today for the people who lost their lives.” He added that the church had a security plan in place, but he credits the security officer for saving “many, many” lives through her actions.

 

Boyd added that church officials considered the attack on New Life a random act. “We don’t know the shooter. He has no connection to our church,” he said. “Please pray for our church; pray for the people who were injured.”

 

New Life Church was founded by Ted Haggard who was forced out after admitting in November 2006 to sexual immorality and purchasing methamphetamines from a gay escort. Boyd took over as pastor in August 2007.

The New Life Church shooting tore apart a close-knit and deeply religious family, killing two of four teenage children and wounding the father, relatives said today.