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Four wounded at Colorado missionary center

DENVER - A gunman walked into a training center for young Christian missionaries in a Denver suburb early Sunday and opened fire, wounding at least four people.

The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Youth With a Mission center, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said.

The extent of the injuries was not clear, and the gunman was still at large Sunday morning.

According to its Web site, Youth With a Mission has about 1,000 locations worldwide and trains people to become missionaries. About 50 people were inside the Arvada site when the gunman opened fire.

A lone gunman opened fire on a missionary training campus in Arvada early Sunday morning, shooting four people before fleeing.

Arvada Police investigators say the gunman walked into a dorm-like residence hall on the Faith Bible Chapel Campus at the Youth with a Mission facility near 64th & Ward Road just after midnight and began shooting.

Youth With A Mission is a group that trains people to be missionaries from all over the world.

All four people were rushed to area hospitals, where their conditions are unknown.

Arvada Police Spokeswoman Susan Medina says as many as 45 people were evacuated.

Dr. Darv Smith, who works with the Boulder-area group of the Christian missionary group, says there are six staff members on the Arvada campus. He says mostly students live on campus for a 12-week discipleship training.

Smith says most of the students are from other parts of the country and around the world, with ages ranging from right out of high school to "mature" adults in their 50s and 60s. He says the organization has about 16,000 people worldwide.

The suspect, who is still on the loose, is described as a white male, about 20 years old, who was wearing a dark coat. He may have been wearing a dark beanie, may have had a beard, and may have been wearing glasses.

Well after talking to my mom, 2 are dead.

Both of my nieces are okay, but no word on my nephew yet. Yes this is why I'm home,e today, I'm the acting central switchboard for my family.

So I am going to ask for prayers for those unaccounted (not only my family, but others as well) for, that they maybe okay.

Prayers are being lifed up now.

Amen.

Two dead in Colorado missionary center shooting

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.

A man and a woman in their mid-20s died, and two men ages 22 and 23 were wounded, Medina said. One of the injured men was in critical condition, said Paul Filidis, a Colorado Springs-based spokesman with Youth With a Mission.

All four of the victims were staff members, Filidis said.

Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap. 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 if 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."

The dormitory is on the campus of the Faith Bible Chapel. People bundled up against freezing cold arrived for Sunday services at the sanctuary, about 300 yards from the dormitory.

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.

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.

There are reports on TV that there has now been a shooting at a church in another town about 70 miles from the first incident. There is no information on how many if any may have been injured at this one. The suspect is of similar description in this second shooting as was in the first.

At Least 4 Shot Outside New Life Church

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.― At least four people were shot outside New Life Church on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear if any of them died, El Paso County Sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene said.

It was not immediately known if the shootings were connected with shootings earlier Sunday at a missionary training center in the Denver suburb of Arvada some 65 miles to the north. Two people died in the Arvada incident.

Lance Coles, a pastor at New Life Church, told The Associated Press he received a report that a man was shooting at people in the church parking lot and that the gunman may have entered the church.

New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three year cash-for-sex relationship.

Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted to undisclosed "sexual immorality."

The church is one of Colorado's largest with about 10,000 members.

Brother Bob have you been able to contact your family? My prayers are with them as they are with all in this area.

I just got off the phone, all my family is safe.

I still ask for prayers, for those that have been shot today.

Amen. At least a little good news out of a horrible tragedy.

Police say Colorado shootings may be linked 
Death toll in attacks rises to 5, police search for clues

Authorities searched a home in a Denver surburb early Monday, seeking any link between two deadly shooting sprees at Christian religious centers that left both communities baffled and stunned.

Five people, including a gunman, died in the attacks Sunday at a megachurch in Colorado Springs and at the Youth With a Mission missionary center in the Denver suburb of Arvada. Five others were wounded.

"Violent crimes of any sort are tragic enough, but when innocent people are killed in a religious facility or a place of worship, we must voice a collective sense of outrage and demonstrate a renewed commitment to keeping our communities safe," said Gov. Bill Ritter.

Police in Arvada said they believed the shootings — which occurred 12 hours and about 65 miles apart — were probably linked, though they had nothing conclusive to back up the theory.
"Given the circumstances, I think it is a good possibility that the two are linked," Arvada Deputy Police Chief Gary Creagor told The Associated Press early Monday. "But we have to prove that they are."

At a news conference Sunday, Police Chief Don Wick said that there was "reason to believe" the shootings were connected, though he declined to elaborate.

Early Monday, authorities were searching a home in suburban Englewood, about 15 miles south of Denver, that they said could be related to the Colorado Springs shooting case. Authorities could be seen coming and going from the home, and at one point searching the bushes in front.

Witness descriptions differed
Witness descriptions differed in each incident. A handgun was used in the shootings at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada, while a rifle was used at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, police said.

The gunman at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs 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. Sunday and opening fire, Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said. Four others were wounded at the time, Myers said.
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The church's 11 a.m. service had recently ended, and hundreds of people were milling about when the gunman opened fire. Nearby were parents picking up their children from the nursery.

Police arrived to find that the gunman had been killed by a member of the church's armed security staff, Myers said.

"There was a courageous staff member who probably saved many lives here today," Myers said.

Gov. Bill Ritter ordered state authorities to help investigate. The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting, and officers combed the church campus looking for suspicious devices. Officers found several smoke-generating devices on the church campus, Myers said. Their intended purpose was not clear.

Three of the injured were taken to Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs, said hospital spokeswoman Amy Sufak. One person was in critical condition and another in fair condition. The third was treated and released, and the fourth was treated at the scene of the shooting, Myers said.

Founded by Rev. Haggard
New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with him. Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted committing undisclosed "sexual immorality."

The New Life church is one of Colorado's largest with about 10,000 members.

About 7,000 people were on the Colorado Springs campus at the time of the shooting, Senior Pastor Brady Boyd said. Security at the church had been beefed up after the early morning shootings in Arvada, he said.

That shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada, a Denver suburb, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said.

A man and a woman were killed and two men were wounded, Medina said. All four were staff members of the center, said Paul Filidis, a Colorado Springs-based spokesman with Youth With a Mission.

Peter Warren, director of Youth With a Mission Denver, said a man entered the center and asked whether he could spend the night. Several youths called on Tiffany Johnson, the center's director of hospitality.

"The director of hospitality was called. That's when he opened fire," Warren said. Johnson, 26, was killed.

Warren said he didn't know whether any of the students or staff knew the gunman. "We don't know why" he came to the dormitory, Warren said.

Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap, who had a handgun and left on foot. He may have glasses or a beard.

In addition to Johnson, killed in Arvada was Philip Crouse, 24. Youth With a Mission said Johnson was from Minnesota and Crouse was from Alaska.

The missionary center identified the wounded as Dan Griebenow, 24, and Charlie Blanch, 22. One of the men was in critical condition, and the other was stable, police said.

Missionary center
The missionary center is on the grounds of the Faith Bible Chapel. Cheril Morrison, wife of chapel pastor George Morrison, said Crouse had just hung up Christmas lights at her home and that Johnson was "an amazingly beautiful person."

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 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 did not 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.

Group Targeted in Shooting Has Far Reach

Monday, December 10, 2007
By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer


DENVER —
Begun in 1960 after a 20-year-old college student said he experienced a vision from God, Youth With a Mission has grown into one of the world's most formidable Christian missions groups.

The group, characterized by a decentralized structure and reputation for attracting zealous young people, equips missionaries to spread the Christian faith around the world, including some of the world's most dangerous corners.

In the dark early hours of Sunday morning, what was supposed to be a safe harbor _ a YWAM training center in suburban Denver _ turned deadly when a gunman killed two staff members and injured two others.

It was the first of two church-related shootings in Colorado on Sunday. A gunman opened fire outside New Life Church in Colorado Springs in the afternoon, injuring at least four people. Police said a suspect was detained, but the conditions of the injured were not immediately released.

"You turn to God because God is our strength in all this," said Dale Lambert, an elder on the Youth With a Mission Denver leadership team. "You know what, tragedies happen in the U.S. as well as around the world. Oftentimes people think America is a lot safer, but that's not always true. We're here to serve God, wherever that leads us."

The center where the shooting took place is the base of operations for the Denver branch of Youth With a Mission.

Although the organization's name suggests otherwise, Youth With a Mission trains people of all ages and operates in more than 1,000 locations in more than 149 countries with a staff of nearly 16,000, according to the YWAM Web site.

YWAM was founded by Loren Cunningham, a Pentecostal college student who said he experienced a vision from God while on summer break with a gospel quartet in the Bahamas in 1956. Cunningham described seeing waves of young people crashing up against all the continents, standing on street corners and outside bars preaching the Gospel.

According to the organization's Web site, many early YWAM missionaries weren't even Christian but were attracted to the so-called Jesus Movement of the 1970s, which wrapped Christian teachings in a countercultural vibe.

The organization is best known for advocating short-term mission trips, opening the field to those unable to commit years of learning a language and culture.

"They're not a traditional mission association that sends someone years and years," said Dana Robert, co-director of the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University. "They've got their pulse on the late 20th and early 21st century generation, which is to say, 'Let's try something for a couple of years and then try something else.'

"Young people these days don't want to make a lifelong commitment."

YWAM's scope has expanded to include longer-term missions, as well. The group also has trained missionaries headed to danger zones in the Middle East and Africa, going so far as to use computer encryption software developed by oil companies to chat confidentially with missionaries in the field.

In nations where Christian proselytizing is not welcome, the interdenominational group concentrates more on relief work, Lambert said. Like many evangelical mission groups, YWAM has missionaries working in Muslim nations but does not go into detail because of restrictions on Christian proselytizing in those countries.

Lambert said the group's "mercy ministry" work includes digging wells, providing clean water and building homes. Another defining characteristic of YWAM is that its missionaries are not paid; they raise their own money to go overseas.

Because YWAM is connected to no one denomination and is so diverse both geographically and ethnically, the group is hard to pigeonhole, said Jonathan Bonk, executive director of the Overseas Missions Studies Center in New Haven, Conn.

"YWAM is very far-flung, and has an eclectic mix of people," Bonk said. "It's probably the most decentralized of all the mission organizations I'm aware of. Its members have a lot of independence."

Group Targeted in Shooting Has Far Reach (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2007Dec10/0,4675,ChurchShootingsMissionaries,00.html)

One gunman responsible for Colorado shootings

The shooter at both a missionary center and a church Sunday in Colorado was a man who once worked on a mission with the center, a source familiar with the events said Monday.

 The source said the gunman -- who was killed by a security guard at the site of the second shooting -- was Matthew Murray.

The shootings left four people dead, in addition to the gunman, and five wounded.

The source -- a long-time member of New Life Church, site of the second shooting -- said Murray had a falling out with Youth With a Mission after working with the organization a couple of years ago and that he sent antagonistic and threatening correspondence afterward.

Murray fired on people at the missionary center in Arvada early Sunday, then drove to New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where the center has a satellite office, the source said.

Murray, carrying a great deal of ammunition, threw a smoke grenade into an area in which some people were gathered at the church after services, then got in his car and drove around to a different entrance, where he fired into a car -- killing two teenage girls and wounding their father, the source said.

Murray apparently fired at other cars as well, the source said.

A security guard confronted him and shot him.

The source said there were three security guards in the area of the shooting, only one of whom had a weapon. That guard fired at him, causing him to fall down, and she told him to drop his weapon, the source said. But Murray appeared to try to grab something that may have been a grenade, so the guard shot him again, the source said.

No one has spoken publicly on behalf of Murray, and authorities have not commented on the source's description of what occurred.

Earlier Monday, Brady Boyd, senior pastor of New Life Church, said the gunman was unknown to parishioners there.

"He simply showed up on our property yesterday with a gun, with the intention of hurting people, and he did," Boyd said.

Boyd said the megachurch instituted security precautions after the shootings at the Denver area mission center, saving "hundreds of lives."

A New Life parishioner acting as a security guard shot and killed the gunman after he had gotten no more than 50 feet inside the building, Boyd said.

Two teens, identified by police as Rachael Works, 16, and Stephanie Works, 18, were killed in what Boyd called "a senseless, random attack."

Boyd said the teens were sisters and were shot in the parking lot. Police said their father David Works, 51, was also shot and is hospitalized in fair condition with two gunshot wounds.

Boyd said the female security guard was a hero in preventing further bloodshed, rushing to confront the gunman just inside the church.

"She probably saved over a hundred lives," Boyd said of the guard, whom he said is not a law enforcement officer and used her personal weapon.

 Boyd put the number of people on the church campus at the time as 7,000.

Overnight police from Arvada executed a search warrant obtained by Colorado Springs police for an address in the Denver suburb of Englewood. Authorities did not say how the address may relate to the case, but public records show a Matthew Murray lived in Englewood.

Police in the two cities say different weapons were used in the shootings -- a handgun in Arvada and a rifle in Colorado Springs.

 The first incident took place Sunday at about 12:30 a.m. at Youth With a Mission in Arvada. Police said a man with a beard, wearing a dark jacket, glasses, and skullcap, entered the facility, got into a dispute with a staff member about whether he could stay there for the night, and then opened fire.

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

Then shortly after 1 p.m. in Colorado Springs -- about 80 miles south of Arvada -- a black-clad gunman opened fire on worshippers at New Life.

 Youth With a Mission co-founder Peter Warren identified the two killed staff members as Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24. He said they were cleaning up from a Saturday night Christmas banquet when the attack occurred.

Another staff member, 24-year-old Dan Griebenow, was in critical condition with a bullet in his neck as of Sunday night, and a second survivor, Charlie Blanch, was shot in the legs, the group said on its Web site.

If not for the gun carried by that female security guard there would have been many more killed or injured. Thank God she had the sense to carry one.

Another example that makes me even more convinced that honest law abiding citizens should be able to carry a gun.

AMEN and AMEN!!

Hero guard: 'It was me, the gunman, and God'
Woman who ended carnage: 'I knew what I had to do'

The female security guard who shot and stopped a gunman at a Colorado Springs church yesterday is crediting God for helping her to resolve the threat by killing the assailant.

Jeanne Assam, was hailed by Pastor Brady Boyd with saving many lives in her quick response to gunshots fired at the New Life Church.

"I give the credit to God and I mean that I say that very humbly, God was with me the whole time I was behind cover," she told reporters. "It seemed like it was me, the gunman, and God."

Assam indicated she felt weak as she approached the gunman since she had been fasting.

"My hands weren't even shaking. I knew what I had to do," she said.

"This has got to be God, because of the firepower that [the gunman] had vs. what I had – was God. I did not run away and I didn't think for a minute to run away, I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me."

She said she's drawn her weapon countless times in her previous work in law enforcement. But she said she's never had to fire before.

Two teen girls were killed by the attacker in the church parking lot, and two other people injured in the attack by a gunman identified as Matthew Murray, 24, of Englewood.

Authorities in court papers alleged he had been dismissed from a program at the Christian Youth With A Mission missionary training program in Arvada, Colo., several years ago.

Police confirmed the attack started at the Arvada training center very early Sunday, where a man apparently seeking a place to stay appeared. He pulled a gun and started firing shortly later. Authorities said Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota, and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska, were killed, and two others injured.

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He fled, only to appear 12 hours later at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. There the attack started in the parking lot, where Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachel Works, 16, were shot and killed, police said. Their father, David Works, 51, was reported hospitalized with gunshot wounds in his abdomen and groin, while Judy Purcell, 40, was wounded in her shoulder, and Larry Bourbannais, 59, was wounded in his arm. They both were treated and released.

Boyd said Assam probably saved 100 lives, and police confirmed the attacker's backpack contained clips that could have held more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition for the assault weapon he carried.

Charl Van Wyk, who is credited with saving parishioners' lives when he fired back at terrorists in the St. James Massacre, says Assam should be honored.

"The woman who saved lives should get a medal," Van Wyk told WND.

"Having gone through such a catastrophic experience, my heart goes out to the family, friends and colleagues of those who were murdered and injured at the two church attacks," said Van Wyk.

"Christians need to be prepared to protect themselves against such attacks; policemen cannot be everywhere all the time and can generally only clean up the mess after such a tragic event," he continued. "Christians must not think that justice must be ignored because of their faith. The Bible is quite clear that God has instituted civil government as the Minister of Justice and the Church as the Minister of His Grace. These authorities, instituted by God, have different functions but both operate under His perfect commands found in the Bible."

He told how on June 23, 1978, terrorists murdered nine British missionaries and four young children, including a three-week-old baby at a mission in Zimbabwe.

"It is worth noting that the only British missionary at the Elim Mission Station who had a firearm – he owned a .38 revolver – was the only survivor! Being cowards, the terrorists left him alone, preferring defenseless victims. The first the armed man knew about the attack, was when he woke up the next morning to find the base deserted. He later discovered the bodies of his fellow missionaries on the sports field," Peter Hammond writes in the introduction to "Shooting Back – The Right and Duty of Self-Defense," which is Van Wyk's own story.

That tells how he was sitting in the St James Church in Cape Town, South Africa, during a worship service, when parishioners were attacked by terrorists.

"They opened fire with automatic assault rifles and threw hand grenades between the congregation members. Eleven people were murdered and over 50 injured. I returned fire with a .38 special revolver and the attackers immediately fled the scene," he said.

Assam, without any sleep and clearly visibly shaken 24 hours after the confrontation, told reporters she wanted to extend sympathies to the families of the victim, as well as the gunman. "I mean that very sincerely," she said.

"I heard shots fired. It was chaos. There were a lot of people in the church," she described.

"The halls cleared out and I saw him coming through the doors. I took cover, waited for him to get closer, came out of cover and identified myself, engaged him, took him down," she said.

Church officials said they have a contingent of volunteer security officers because of the high profile of the church.

"Obviously if we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 or 100 people could have lost their lives," the pastor said.

In a commentary for WND, Van Wyk expressed condolences for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting but noted that state lawmakers there had, in effect, created a gun-free zone by banning weapons on school campuses.

"There is a striking paradox associated with mass murders. They are far more likely to occur in areas that have been designated as gun-free zones," he wrote. "Worldwide, office buildings, hospitals, convenience stores, TV studios, chain restaurants and day-care centers have all been targets of homicidal maniacs. Mass murders have taken place in such places after they have been declared gun-free zones.

"In 1999, John Lott and William Landes published a U.S. study of multiple shooting incidents. They showed that mass shootings occur less often in areas where responsible citizens may carry weapons," he continued. "Do mass shootings ever occur in police stations, shooting ranges or at gun shows? Mass murderers select soft targets for their acts of violence. Expecting a suicidal individual to honor a law prohibiting firearms is sheer utopian fantasy."

Colo. gunman's posting hinted of attacks

By JUDITH KOHLER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 21 minutes ago

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Authorities believe the man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center posted an anti-Christian diatribe online that closely repeated a rant by one of the Columbine killers, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Matthew Murray, who was kicked out of a missionary training center where the first shooting occurred, is believed to have posted the message on a Web site for people who have left evangelical religious groups. His most recent post was Sunday morning in the hours between his attacks in Arvada and Colorado Springs, according to KUSA-TV in Denver, which first reported on the writings.

"You Christians brought this on yourselves," Murray wrote, according to the station, which did not identify the site. "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."

The language in the post is almost identical to the text of a manifesto written by Eric Harris, one of the teens who carried out the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, The Denver Post reported.

The online posts spanned several weeks, the station said, and in an earlier one, Murray appeared to reject offers of psychological help.

"I've already been working with counselors. I have a point to make with all this talk about psychologists and counselors `helping people with their pain,'" he wrote, according to KUSA.

The station said Murray's posts were removed from the site after Sunday's killings, and that authorities were aware of them and investigating. Police in Colorado Springs and Arvada would not comment on the writings.

On Monday, officials said revenge was one apparent motive for the attacks. Police said Murray had sent hate mail to the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada in the last few weeks after being removed from the program years ago.

In a statement, the training center said health problems kept Murray from finishing the program, but elaborated little. Murray did not complete the lecture phase or a field assignment as part of a 12-week program, Youth With a Mission said.

"The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to" finish, it said.

The program had an office at the site of the second shooting, the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where Murray was shot by volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam. Investigators said Murray may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though police and church leaders credited Assam's bravery with averting a greater tragedy.

Assam, 42, said her faith allowed her to remain steady under pressure.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said, her hands trembling as she recounted the shooting during a news conference.

Assam is a former police officer who worked in Minneapolis during the 1990s, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said. Garcia said Monday night that he didn't know the exact dates of her employment with the force and couldn't comment on why she left.

Also Monday, officials finished searching the home where Murray lived along with a brother, Christopher, 21. Murray's father, Ronald S. Murray, is chief executive of the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center in Englewood.

In a search warrant affidavit, investigators said Matthew Murray attended a home-based computer school and worked at his computer for three to five hours a day for the past two years.

A neighbor, Cody Askeland, 19, said the brothers were home-schooled, describing the whole family as "very, very religious."

Christopher Murray studied for a semester at Colorado Christian University before transferring to Oral Roberts, said Ronald Rex, dean of admissions and marketing at Colorado Christian. He said Matthew Murray had been in contact with school officials this summer about attending the school but decided he wasn't interested because he thought the school was too expensive.

Police said Murray's only previous brush with the law was a traffic ticket earlier this year.

His relatives said they were grief-stricken and baffled.

"We cannot understand why this has happened. We ask for prayer for the victims and their families during this time of grief," said Phil Abeyta, Murray's uncle, who read a statement from the family.

Colo. gunman's posting hinted of attacks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/church_shootings;_ylt=AjOhHZsHWSonbwJukXTzFq9H2ocA)