Another 2 shootings today (12/9/07)

[JFettig]

Two shootings in Colorado today at New Life Church in Colorado Springs and a missionary training center.
A friend of mine was an intern at the New Life Church less than a year go.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/us/10 ... ref=slogin
http://www.reuters.com/article/domestic ... 22&sp=true
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... h-springs/

Very sad.

[JFettig]

Just got a message from my friend:
Nate: "ok, so we always knew when we were at knew life that the elderly guys in suits with ear pieces and without... we knew that they were packin. They'd come to the cafe during service, and we'd give em' coffee for free and stuff, well, the gunman came to my church at 1 PM today, killed one person outside, and even though he entered the main foyer with a high powered rifle, one of the church guards took him out."
He hasn't talked to anyone there yet, but he's speaking from experience and what he's read.

Jon

[brauchma]

It is sad... It is also another reason to carry at church. You never know. It will be interesting to read/hear what the motives were. A "sort of" copy cat of the mall shooting?

[TC95GT]

Here is some additional information on the shooting.

By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
December 10, 2007
11:24 am

Security Guard 'Saved Over 100 Lives'

(CNSNews.com) - Many people are expressing relief that a volunteer security guard used her own gun to stop a man on a shooting spree Sunday. "She probably saved over 100 lives," the Brady Boyd, the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said on Monday. The female guard, a church member dressed in plain clothes, killed the gunman after he opened fire at the mega-church. Boyd said she "rushed toward the attacker and took him down in the hallway" as he entered the building. The shooting erupted around 1 p.m., at the end of a service, when 7,000 people were either inside the New Life Church or just leaving. "He was just walking and shooting," the Denver Post quoted one witness as saying. The gunman, still unidentified, shot at least eight people, killing two teenage sisters, the pastor said. The girls were 16 and 18 years old. Their father, also shot, is listed in father condition. The gunman is believed to be the same young man who shot and killed two people earlier the same day at a missionary training center in suburban Denver. In that case, the gunman opened fire, reportedly after he was refused permission to spend the night at the missionary center. The gunman was described as skinny, in his 20s, about 6 feet tall and dressed in black, police said. KUSA-TV reported that the gunman was wearing a "tactical helmet and body armor." The church's pastor said the New Life Church "prepared in advance" for a possible attack, after hearing about the shooting at the missionary training center

[JoeH]

A civilian with a permit making a huge difference... this is an important event for the RKBA.

Hats off to the church too.

Here's another story on her.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Jeanne Assam appeared before the news media for the first time Monday and said she "did not think for a minute to run away" when a gunman entered the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and started shooting.

There was applause as Assam went before reporters and TV cameras saying, "God guided me and protected me."

New Life's Senior Pastor Brady Boyd called Assam "a real hero" because Murray "had enough ammunition on him to cause a lot of damage."


When asked by a reporter if she felt like a hero, Assam said, "I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse."

"I give credit to God," she said.

Assam described how the gunman, Matthew Murray, entered the east entrance of the church firing his rifle.

"There was chaos," Assam said, as parishioners ran away.

"I saw him coming through the doors" and took cover, Assam said. "I came out of cover and identified myself and engaged him and took him down."

"God was with me," Assam said. "I didn't think for a minute to run away."

Assam said she believes God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed.

Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sergeant Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said.

Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service.

The victims killed in the Colorado Springs shooting were identified Monday as sisters Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachael Works, 16. Their father, David Works, 51, suffered two gunshot wounds -- one to the abdomen and one to the groin -- and was listed in fair condition on Monday. They were shot in the parking lot as they were getting into their van.

"Our concern is for our family that lost two teenage daughters. Our hearts are grieving," said Brady Boyd. "You can imagine, as parents, losing two children while coming to church, just showing up for a worship service, not bothering anyone."

Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed.

Boyd said there are 15 to 20 security people at the church. All are volunteers but the only ones armed are those who are licensed to carry weapons.

The security guards are members of the church and are screened and licensed and not "mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security," Boyd said.

About 7,000 people were on the church campus at the time of the shooting, said Boyd.

Assam said she was ending three days of fasting on Sunday. "I was praying to God that he direct me" in what to do in life, Assam said.

"Through the week God made me strong," she said.

[ttousi]

Minnesota connection with the security guard also:

Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service.

[Squib Joe]

Jeanne Assam is a well regarded former MPD officer

[Pinnacle]

Jeanne Assam is a well regarded former MPD officer

I think that we should all hold her in even higher regard now. I think that it is a pure tragedy that you have to have armed people in a church but it is the smartest thing that any place of worship can do.

I find it interesting that the CHURCHES were the main driving force behind the repeal of the original law. Do you think that they have reconsidered?

Jeanne Assam was an unwilling hero that stepped up to the plate - did what she had to do - did what she promised to do - and saved lives. Good for her - and good for that church for realizing that there are bad people out there.

Good on em.

[rtk]

Jeanne Assam is a well regarded former MPD officer

I thought that I read that she had been fired from MPD, anyone know why?

rtk

[rucker]

Jeanne Assam is a well regarded former MPD officer

I thought that I read that she had been fired from MPD, anyone know why?

rtk

Interesting. I searched on google and the first result is this story: http://wcco.com/crime/colorado.shooting ... 08063.html

Notice that it does not say anything about her being fired. Check the cached version of the website though: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:DH ... cd=1&gl=us

The second paragraph is:

Jeanne Assam once worked for the Minneapolis Police Department in the Fourth and First precincts in the late 90s. A police union official said she was fired because of a "truthfulness issue" and her termination was upheld by an arbitrator.

[JoeH]

A lot of good people have been and will be fired.

And the truth? You can't handle the truth!

[hammAR]

Jeanne Assam is a well regarded former MPD officer

I thought that I read that she had been fired from MPD, anyone know why?

rtk

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TFEJO00&show_article=1

Also Tuesday, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said Assam was fired from the Minneapolis force in 1997 for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

[someone1980]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TFEJO00&show_article=1

Also Tuesday, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said Assam was fired from the Minneapolis force in 1997 for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

Something doesn't sound right. There are officers who have done a lot more then lie about swearing at someone, and not even get a slap on the wrist, much less fired.

[princewally]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TFEJO00&show_article=1

Also Tuesday, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said Assam was fired from the Minneapolis force in 1997 for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

Something doesn't sound right. There are officers who have done a lot more then lie about swearing at someone, and not even get a slap on the wrist, much less fired.

I'm guessing it was racially themed swearing, recorded in front of a live studio audience.

Or, it was an excuse to fire her.

[ree]

I'm guessing it was racially themed swearing, recorded in front of a live studio audience.

Or, it was an excuse to fire her.

I was speculating this too, that perhaps they didn't like her for some other, perhaps bigoted reasons, and got rid of her on a technicality even though they might not choose to fire another, possibly differently-gendered or maybe just more likable, employee for the same thing.