Colo. Shooter Had Ties to Church

Lone gunman ID'd as ex-mission worker who sent threatening letters

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 10, 2007 2:44 PM CST

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Colo. Shooter Had Ties to Church — Unidentified individuals enter the house at 10929 E. Berry Pl. in unincorporated Arapahoe County, Colo. on Monday morning, December 10, 2007 after a search warrant was served. Authorities said the search could be related to the Colorado Springs shooting case. ( AP Photo/Peter M. Fredin ) (Associated Press)

A former mission worker was the shooter in both of yesterday’s Colorado church shootings, CNN reports. The killer, identified as Matthew Murray, worked with Youth With a Mission in Arvada, where the first shooting occurred. The Rocky Mountain News describes Murray as the 24-year-old son of a local neurosurgeon, and CBS 4 reports that his neighbors said Murray was a recluse.

A senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where the second shooting took place, had said earlier that the shooter was not a church member. “It was just absolutely random,” he said. “He simply showed up with a gun, intent on harming people.” Four people, two at each location, died before a security guard at the second church shot and killed Murray. (More crime stories.)

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