2 Shot, Killed at Missionary Training Center
By George Merritt
Associated Press Writer
December 9, 2007
CBNNews.com - 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.
Click the play button for comments from a member of Faith Bible Chapel.
The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m., at the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) 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 aged 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 YWAM.
All four of the victims were staff members, Filidis said.
Witnesses told police the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and a 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," he said.
Police with several dogs searched the area throughout the night, and residents of nearby homes were notified by reverse 911 to be on the lookout. Medina said residents were asked to look from their windows to see if the snow had been disturbed during the night.
About four inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day.
Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received a call about 9:00 a.m. warning neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked.
"Why would anybody want to hurt those kids," Martin asked. "I just pray for their families," she said.
The domitory 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 domitory.
Darv Smith, director of 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 worldwide, with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said.
The Arvada center at the Faith Bible Chapel campus was founded in 1984.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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