Colo. Missionary Center Shooting Kills 2
Pastor Dale Morgan
Colo. Missionary Center Shooting Kills 2*
By GEORGE MERRITT,
Associated Press Writer
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.