Colo Springs church assault ended by armed citizen; not well covered in media!

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Garand Illusion

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I'd like to see more details on this ... but from what I know of that church the "security" are basically the ushers and other men who arm themselves to protect the church. The church leaders may or may not know of it. I know of a couple of highly visible, conservative churches where the ushers or other men carry weapons under a normal CCW (again -- sometimes with the knowledge of the elders, sometimes without).

Read below, how this article changed "security volunteer" to "security guard."

In this case the volunteer may be an offduty cop, since they have quite a few people to choose from -- I don't know that yet:

The gunman was killed by an armed security volunteer at the church before police arrived, authorities said. The gunman's name was not released. Officers found several smoke-generating devices on the church campus; their intended purpose wasn't clear.

Boyd said the security guard rushed the attacker, who didn't get more than 6 feet inside the building, and "took him down in the hallway."

"She probably saved 100 lives," Boyd said of the guard. The gunman, he added, "had a lot of ammunition to do a lot of damage."

About 7,000 people were on the church campus at the time
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The media has constantly referred to the defensive person as a "security guard" or "security personnel." And while they may have volunteered for that role, I'm pretty sure it was just an armed citizen volunteering to defend his church.

Anybody have any details?

In any case ... notice how many lives were saved? 2 people lost is too many, but 100 would have been worse.
 
I'd like to see more details on this ... but from what I know of that church the "security" are basically the ushers and other men who arm themselves to protect the church. The church leaders may or may not know of it. I know of a couple of highly visible, conservative churches where the ushers or other men carry weapons under a normal CCW ...
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One of the details you ask for is contained in the quote you provided: the "security guard" was a woman. Not an usher "or another man." :)

Other details gleaned from other news stories: she is not a law enforcement officer, she was in plain clothes, she is a volunteer member of the church's security program, and she ordinarily hangs out with the senior pastor on Sunday mornings to protect him. And she has a concealed carry permit.

From http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/10/colorado.shootings/index.html

Source: One gunman responsible for Colorado shootings

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- The shooter at both religious institutions in Colorado on Sunday was Matthew Murray, a source familiar with what happened at both locations said Monday.

Two people were killed by a gunman early Sunday at Youth With a Mission in Arvada, Colorado, and two other died from gunfire outside a church in Colorado Springs about 12 hours later.

The Colorado Springs megachurch instituted security precautions after the shootings at the Denver area mission center, saving "hundreds of lives" at the New Life Church, senior Pastor Brady Boyd said Monday.

A New Life parishioner acting as a security guard shot and killed the gunman who entered the church Sunday afternoon 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 said the gunman, whom police have yet to identify, had no connection to the church.

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

The pastor also said New Life had taken extra precautions Sunday after hearing of the attack in Arvada, Colorado, early Sunday morning, in which a gunman killed two people after he was refused lodging at Youth With a Mission live-in Christian missionary center.

"Hundreds of lives were saved yesterday because of the plan that was put in place," said Boyd, who put the number of people on the church campus at the time as 7,000. (more at link above)
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pax
 
A gunman on Sunday shot several New Life Church worshippers, two of them fatally, before he was killed by a security guard.
(BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE0 Police ID teens killed in New Life shootings
Comments 143| Recommend 104
By PERRY SWANSON
THE GAZETTE
December 10, 2007 - 2:28PM


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.

The dead are 18-year-old Stephanie Works and her sister, 16-year-old Rachael Works. They were described by their uncle, Mark Schaepe of Lincoln, Neb, as outgoing cheerful, faithful and smart.

“It teaches you that life is precious,” he said.



The Works sisters are survived by their parents, David Works, who was shot twice in the attack and remained hospitalized in fair condition; and Marie Works, along with two sisters.
The other victims of Sunday’s shootings include:

-Judy Purcell, 40, who suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. She was treated at the hospital and released.
-Larry Bourbannais, 59, who suffered a gunshot wound to the left forearm. He was treated at the hospital and released.

The shooting followed an attack on a Denver-area missionary training center that left two people dead. Police investigators focused on a 24-year-old Arapahoe County man who lives at a house that was first searched before the second shooting Sunday.

Law enforcement sources have told KCNC television in Denver that the gunman found dead in the New Life Church in Matthew J. Murray, one of two sons of Denver-area neurosurgeon Ronald S. Murray.

Police agencies first arrived at the Murray home in the 10900 block of East Berry Place before noon Sunday and searched until before dawn today.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson confirmed his agency’s bomb squad was dispatched to the home about 7:15 Sunday night. He said his agency was supporting Arvada and Colorado Springs police who were executing a search warrant at the house. Police took several boxes of items from the home.

Ronald Murray’s Lone Tree medical office was closed this morning.

“Dr. Murray’s office is closed and he will not be available until further notice,” a phone recording said.

The gunman died at the scene in the parking lot. New Life Pastor Brady Boyd said church officials consider the attack on New Life a random act.

“We don’t know the shooter. He has no connection to our church,” he said.

Schaepe said family members suspect that the shooter could have targeted the girls because they were involved heavily with Youth With a Mission and had frequented the Arvada training center for the missionary group where two people were shot to death hours before the New Life attack.

The girls had gone on a mission trip to China with Youth With a Mission last year, Schaepe said.

Police in Arvada have said the two cases are likely linked.

Colorado Springs Police scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. to offer additional details.
Boyd said he’s most concerned for “the family that lost two teenage daughters.”

“You can imagine what the parents are going through, losing two children by coming to church,” he said. “I’m asking Colorado Springs and the country, please pray for that family because they’re going through a hard time.”

Schaepe said the Works family, which moved to Denver from Montana in the mid-1990s, is deeply religious and home-schooled the four girls.

He said the family gravitated to New Life and had become heavily involved in church life.
“They felt at home in that particular group,” he said.

Schaepe said he hadn’t talked to the girls’ mother, Marie, but said family members were on the way from Nebraska to stay with her and the surviving children.

An official at the Dayton Meadows Apartments in Aurora, where the Works live, declined to answer questions about the family and asked media to leave the property today. The complex, a series of three-floor brick-and-wood buildings with a sign advertising “Two Bedrooms Free Rent” in an apartment-heavy area, sat quiet this morning.

Boyd said the security guard who killed the shooter was a “hero” whose actions had averted further bloodshed. He said she is normally his personal security guard, but on Sunday was stationed in the middle of a church rotunda, on the lookout for danger following reports of a shooting at a Christian ministry near Denver earlier in the day that left two dead. He said she is “highly trained” and has a background in law enforcement but is not currently a law enforcement officer.

Boyd said 15-20 volunteer church members regularly work as security guards on New Life’s 38-acre campus. The church has had a emergency response and evacuation plan in place for several years, he said.

“That’s the reality of our world. None of us grew up in a church where that was a reality, but today it is,” he said.

Boyd said the church might have been a target because of its high profile in the city, adding there might be some connection with the ousting last year of founder and former pastor Ted Haggard.

Boyd said he had visited and prayed with the victims' family in the hospital.

Woodmen Valley Chapel, another large church in Colorado Springs, offered crisis counseling for people who are distraught over the shootings. The counseling is available at the church’s Rockrimmon Campus Community Center, 290 E. Woodmen Road. For details, call 599-8652.

“Obviously the trauma that happened yesterday will take a long time to get through,” Boyd said. “But this is a strong church.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0187 or perry.swanson@gazette.com. Tom Roeder, Andrea Brown, Ed Sealover and Richard Wiens of The Gazette, and the Rocky Mountain News contributed to this report.
 
Thanks for the links!

So it was somewhat covered, but it seems every story emphasizes that she had LEO training, used the term "security guard," etc.

I still say there's a hardcore bias there against the fact that it was an armed civilian that stopped the assault. And if we'd followed any of the rules proposed by the Brady campaign (i.e. NO CCW in churches) more people would be dead right now.
 
A message

I have a home in Colorado Springs and have been by the church countless times.
This is a great demonstration of the "what if" about a gun-free zone versus a place where people have accepted the reality of todays society. It's a terrible tragedy, but could have come out worse than the Viginia Tech incident with 7,000 potential victims. I think there should be a mandatory armed security guard for the places with certain densities of gatherings (Malls, churches, schools, etc.) Not providing the security to halt something like this is irresponsible no matter what.
 
This church has had armed members acting in a security role for several years. The woman security guard was Jeannie Assam, a former law enforcement officer from Minnesota who had a CCW permit and who currently works for a company that writes and publishes religious books and does world-wide speaking engagements. There were smoke bombs set off at some of the church entrances. The shooting then started in the east parking lot where the two sisters were killed and their father was wounded. Jeannine heard shots and saw the shooter enter the building. She sought cover and waited till he got closer as he was shooting at people. A man shouted at the shooter to distract him and dove behind a decorative pillar and was shot in the forearm. Jeannie confronted the gunman and yelled "surrender". The gunman fired three rounds at her from a handgun (note that he was also firing a rifle). She began firing at the gunman as she walked directly toward him, firing an estimated 12 rounds. There are some reports that the gunman may have been wearing body armor and a helmet.

The shooter's handgun casings were matched to the previous night's shooting at the missionary training school in Arvada, Colorado. It is reported that this school had a no firearms policy. Many conflicting reports, but that is the best I have been able to sort out.
 
Foxnews report is rediculous. They not only did not metion about a volunteer female security but they also said Murray may killed himself. The media is bad they don't want give CCW people a good credit in shut down the crime. This is kind of cop jealousy.
 
Psalm 46 - “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to the depths of the sea, Though its waters rage and foam and mountains totter at its surging. The LORD of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. Selah!”

Psalm 92 - “My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”

I gather from another unsourced report that the cops took an astoundingly short two minutes to arrive, but by the time they got there, the attacker was dead and it was all over.
 
I listened to the 4:00 MST press conference from the Colorado Springs PD on the radio. They yapped on and on about their quick response, control of situation, etc. They did not mention that a CCW holder shot the BG before they got there.
 
I listened to the 4:00 MST press conference from the Colorado Springs PD on the radio. They yapped on and on about their quick response, control of situation, etc. They did not mention that a CCW holder shot the BG before they got there.
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Well, this sort of thing isn't quite as glamorous to talk about in a press conference:

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I really feel for the family and parents of the two victims; Rachael (16) and Stephanie Works (18). What a way to have your life turned upside down in a few seconds.?
 
Cool hand, I agree with you. We don't need to put up a lot of crap, all we need is either a Bersa 380 or Keltec P3AT with one clip that's enough to put BG down like Ms Assam did.
 
I really feel for the family and parents of the two victims;
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Since the police have now linked the other shooting to this one that brings this murderer's toll to 4 dead, 5 wounded. (Not counting his own death.)

He was killed with several firearms and over 1000 rounds of ammunition on him.
 
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Events like this are never good but sometimes a bit of good is generated by all the horror and evil involved. Obviously, the perpetrator is dead and that's a good thing. It's too bad that so many had to be hurt in acheiving that end but, as the pastor pointed out, it could have been much, much worse.

Another thing that might be considered a "good" thing: The story has legs that even the biased media can't cut away. Just as we (gunowners in general) finally have a decent chance to get a proper hearing in the Supreme Court, we're also getting some (grudgingly) good press for a defensive shooting.

I would have preferred that no one had died in this mess but they died in a good cause. I know, that's not a point the grieving relatives will focus on but it's still a valid point. Freedom isn't free and sometimes those who pay the ultimate price don't even realize they're the bargaining chips in a much greater transaction. Thirteen people died at Columbine and a whisper was generated and quickly shouted down: 'Maybe armed teachers could have averted the slaughter.' After 32 died at Virginia Tech the whisper grew a real voice and those who ultimately shouted it down still sounded a bit defensive. Yesterday five died and the carnage was stopped - dead - by an armed citizen with a concealed gun.

In a few days most of this will be covered up by a sycophantic media, intent on disarming everyone except for their heros, the police. It is up to us to keep this story alive and beleaguer every anti-gun voice with facts instead of feelings. Never mind they don't listen. They've been brainwashed for nearly a hundred years with lies that they now quote as fact so it might take us awhile to correct them.

It's something we have to do. We decry the mindset that waits for the government to provide aid, answers and commodities but too many of US have picked up some bad habits too. We plead a lack of time or money or family obligations to excuse our lack of effort when a chance arises to face those who would disarm us. Instead, we wait for "someone else" to do the heavy lifting while we write pithy comments, published on the internet and read by others who suffer from the same malady. In short, we're preaching to the choir.

It's time we vindicated all those who died at Columbine, at Luby's, at Pearl and Thurston High Schools, at Virginia Tech and at dozens of other "gun free zones" by refusing to be victims of the next deranged misfit who wants to go out in a blaze of glory. If you have a CCW then carry where it's most needed, in those areas where the danger is greatest. If you don't have the permission of your state to defend yourself then ... Well, I can't suggest anybody break the law. You have to make that call for yourself.

Stay safe.
 
I was just posting in a thread the other day about "Can you live with being called a coward?" Wasn't really surprised about the number of folks who clearly wouldn't have enough courage to do what Ms. Assam did. Everybody who says they'd try to help protect the innocents was belittled as "would-be Rambs", etc. I'd also note that, in the church shootings, two male "security guards" froze and behaved like some here have said they'd behave...not firing and letting the shooter kill some more people.

It's not a matter of being Rambo. It's a matter of not being a coward, but of having sufficient testicular grandiosity to do what's right.
 
My position is if I found myself in such a situation and I'm carrying my weapon I would intervene to try to stop the threat. The laws of our country and the threatening circumstances that we continue to find ourselves in are slowly modifying our public and private behavior. Even the simple minded anti-gunners have begun to realize that "counseling" and other social panaceas they hold dear just don't work in the real world.
 
The only thing I heard about a 'securty guard' being involved was when the local Police Chief(?), I believe, was commending her actions. The reporter he was talking too wouldn't even acknowledge the statement and went into her next question. I was hoping for more details about her. Thanks for that.
 
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