Four Shot At New Life Church

Daniel Gonzales

December 9th, 2007

As of this blog posting police were unsure if this shooting is related to an earlier shooting in Arvada (Denver). From CNN:

A gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a Colorado Springs church on Sunday, striking four people, the church’s pastor said.

A black-clad man armed with a rifle opened fire on worshippers inside a Colorado Springs, Colorado, megachurch Sunday afternoon, wounding several people, church and hospital officials reported.

The gunman was then shot to death, a minister said.

Rob Brendle, an associate pastor at New Life Church, said the attack took place after a late-morning service.

Amy Sufak, a spokeswoman for Penrose-St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs, told CNN that several victims were taken to the hospital.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Rick Myers would confirm no details of the incident, calling it a “very dynamic situation right now.”

Lt. Lari Sevene, a spokeswoman for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department, said the attack took place shortly after 1 p.m. and said possibly two or three people were wounded. She could not confirm the death of the gunman and referred further questions to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

But Brendle told CNN the gunman was dead.

New Life Church was founded by Rev. Ted Haggard in 1984.

Update: Other reports suggest that a suspect has been detained. Another report says that one gunman was shot, and a second possible gunman and a car full of explosives was being sought. No confirmation yet from Colorado Springs police or the El Paso Sheriff’s office on any of these reports. Obviously things are rather chaotic right now.

Update: Fox31 in Denver reports that “Police have confirmed that the shooter was killed, though they are not saying whether he was shot by police or died of a self-inflicted gunshot.” No one else is picking up this report yet, so it’s unclear whether it’s been confirmed.

Update: The Associated Press is reporting that “Colorado Springs police Lt. Fletcher Howard said a suspect had been detained in the shootings at the New Life Church, but a church member who was locked down at the church Sunday afternoon said a security guard had shot and killed the gunman.”

Update: CNN and the Denver Post confirm that the gunman was shot dead by a security guard at New Life Church. Several “suspicious devices” were found at the church. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a church member was also killed in the rampage in addition to the gunman, and four others were wounded. New Life had instituted unspecified security measures when they received word of the Arvada shooting.

See also:

Colorado Gunman Scared Co-Workers, Heard Voices
The LaBarbera Award: Tony Perkins
Prayers and Condolences for Arvada and Colorado Springs
Four Shot At New Life Church
Two Christian Missionaries Killed, Two Injured Near Denver

Bill Ware

December 10th, 2007

Our family was in Colorado Springs for a few days in May, 2005 for my son’s graduation from the Air Force Academy. He took us to Wednesday evening services at the New Life Church.

It’s a megacomplex with several large facilities. I was told it has it’s own zip code. It happened to be the one night a month where the men met in one auditorium, with Ted Haggard presiding, the women in another with his wife.

Our meeting room had the 27 foot diameter globe of the world which rotated slowly during the service.

The gist of Pastor Haggard’s sermon was that once we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross and our redemption through him we ought not keep dwelling on this, but rather focus on living our lives as Jesus taught us. As a Christian, this seems reasonable to me.

He came across as a sincere, energetic man, dedicated to the wellbeing of his church and the congregation. I could see why he was elected President of the National Evangelical Association.

The only odd thing was during a Q and A session afterward. He was asked about the charge that there was inappropriate promotion of religious beliefs, especially fundamentalist ones, at the Air Force Academy.

Instead of his usual reasoned response, he went into a rant about the Lutheran chaplain who brought this matter to public attention, mentioning several times how “butch” she looked and so on, which all seemed irrelevant to the question at hand. At one point, he mentioned he had to be careful about what he said in this regard. Someone (a pro gay activist?) might be in the room recording what he said to use against him later.

Good grief. Disdain for a chaplain who has rather short hair for a female? Concern that a gay person may have infiltrated the service to gather incriminating evidence against him?

It seemed rather odd at the time, but not so much in light of his subsequent outing.

Why are closeted gays so anti-gay and paranoid, I wonder.

Timothy Kincaid

December 10th, 2007

Well meth can induce paranoi

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