"YOUR Columbine" - Gunman wrote of rejection as reason for revengeBy Jeremy P. Meyer, David Migoya and Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post
...
Asked to leave group
Steve Mariner, the president of Denver's occult group Ad Astra Oasis, says Murray attended group meetings for about a year before being asked to leave in September.
Ad Astra Oasis is an officially chartered body of the ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS, a ceremonial magic order based on the teachings of English poet and mystic Aleister Crowley.
"He was a mostly quiet, geeky young man," Mariner said of Murray. "He was a skinny little kid. He was your typical I-like-college-over-cars type. He was a voracious reader, as far as I could tell. I never heard him raise his voice."
Mariner said the group of about 15 people realized over time that Murray was not fitting in.
"It seemed like he needed some time to back off and evaluate himself," he said. "We could summarize it as saying the personalities were not a good mix."
Mariner said he was shocked when he learned Murray was the shooter.
"You are sitting there having a conversation with someone ," Mariner said.
"We all have our little personality quirks, but you don't appraise them of being someone who would go off and do something this atrocious."
That Murray shot several people horrified Richard Werner, a missionary who bunked with him in Arvada in 2002, but it didn't surprise him.
"It was something you can't ever imagine, but it was so obvious after it happened," said Werner, 34, who now lives in Brazil. "It's just because of the way he used to behave."
http://origin.denverpost.com/news/ci_7696043
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" ... My interest was piqued when I searched “Path to 9-11″ director David Cunningham’s name and discovered that he is the son of Loren Cunningham, founder of the worldwide, evangelical missonary group Youth With a Mission (YWAM).
http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/newsdesk
••••••
"A gunman and four people were killed and four others wounded yesterday in two apparently unprovoked shootings that unfolded about 12 hours and 70 miles apart at a missionary training center and a church in Colorado, law-enforcement authorities reported. ... That shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. in Arvada, 15 miles west of Denver, at a dormitory of Youth With a Mission, an interdenominational Christian organization with hundreds of centers around the country that train young people for short-term missionary service around the world. ... One police official said there was reason to believe the shootings were related, but did not elaborate. ... "
2 comments:
Colorado Springs PD released 478 pages of documents on the New Life Church shooting(Case report number 07-40399) back in the spring. I procured a copy. Here are citations that indicate more than one shooter:
pg1 of 478
Offense Report, Clothing/Appearance says of the deceased suspect laying in the hall: 'black tactical vest/Gray sweatshirt/Black cargo pants/Boots.' Murray's ht/wt listed as 5'7" 120 pounds on his driver's license. Many of the eyewitness reports are consistent with this description. For example:
pg112
Witness Chandler Meininger: Outside in the south parking lot where the shooting began "he said the man was wearing a gray shirt with bulletproof vest."
But a whole group describe someone wearing a trenchcoat and/or camoflage, yet no items of clothing matching this description were found.
pg8
"Mr. Stephen Reynolds(witness) saw a male in a [u]trench coat[/u], possibly black in color.... she said the male was 'tall'... ."
pg70
Witness Judy Purcell in the south parking lot(where the shooting of the victims occured): "She then observed a white male approx. 6 feet tall... wearing a camouflage jacket...."
pg113
Witness Clayton Meininger: "Mr. Meininger described the suspect as a white male in his late 20s to early 30s. He said the suspect was approximately 6'0" to 6'2", 175 pounds.... He said the suspect had a military style haircut that was short on the sides and spiked on the top. ... the suspect was wearing brown colored sunglasses."
[Comment: I don't know exactly what hairstyle Murray had, but I don't think he had shaved sides with spiky tips.]
pg126
Witness Roy Pollete: "Mr. Pollete said the suspect was wearing a black jacket of unknown legnth."
pg130
Witness Jacob Elzy: Right before the shooting broke out, said a college-aged man walked by him carrying a weapon under his dark jacket, he had "dark spikey hair."
pg162
Witness Clayton Meininger: Suspect was wearing green pants and a green shirt and black flak jacket/bulletproof vest, approximately 6'0" to 6'2", hair short, "crew cut style."
pg176
Witness Don Thompson(usher): "....he had seen a person with a gun in the building that he thought was wearing camoflage clothing; however, the downed suspect was wearing black, so he thought there could be a second suspect involved."
pg206
Witness Kyle Thomas: He left the property just before the shooting broke out. On the way out, he sees the smoke bomb on the north side of the complex. "Kyle stated that he saw a suspicious man who 'seemed to be guarding around the smoke.' ...the male was wearing [u]a long black trench coat[/u], black pants, and black shoes. ...the male was wearing a black 'beanie' with black sun glasses. ...with a two or three inch goatee."
Witness Johnny Thomas: Kyle's brother, he said the man "appeared to be in his later 20s.... approximately 6'00" to 6'2" in height. The male was wearing all black clothing, a black hat, [u]a long black jacket[/u] that went to his thighs..... The male had a goatee."
[Note: Murray was clean shaven. It should be noted that some eyewitnesses at YWAM in Arvada also said the perp had facial hair.]
pg314
Witness Danny Thompson: "At first, I could've swore he(the shooter) was dressed in camo...."
pg329
Witness Diane Sevcik: "...she could observe a tall thin male wearing a [u]green army trench coat[/u](which was very long) standing outside the glass doors."
pg339
Witness Diane Cole: "She also stated he(the shooter) was wearing a military style coat that was olive drab in color and legnth, meaning not a full length trench coat and not a waist coat."
pg381
Witness David Gleason: He sees the gunman inside the church. "David described the individual as wearing a [u]trench coat[/u] and all black clothing...."
pg385
Witness David Harris: Sees the shooter on the south side of the church, "...with a [u]dark colored, longer type coat[/u] wearing a backpack..."
There were also others in trenchcoats seen at the church both before and after:
pg158
Witness Sara Pucci: At 10 to 10:15am(three hours before the shooting), sees two suspicious males near the same east doorway the shooter used to enter the church. One had "dark, short and spiky(hair), wearing a dark colored hat and a [u]brown trench coat[/u] that extended almost to the floor...."
pg293
Witness Anna Cole: "Earlier that morning around 10:30 or 10:40am, she observed a suspicious male walk into the theater where the kids are. She described him as an unknown race male wearing a [u]black trench coat[/u] with a black knitted hat. Anna stated that the suspect had sunglasses hanging from his trench coat."
pg115
An hour a half after the shooting ended, witness David Delgado sees a man walking along the south side of the church, peering into the windows, "a white male in his early 20s, wearing black sweatpants, a black beanie cap, and a [u]black nylon three-quarter length coat[/u]."
Other witness accounts seemed to indicate at least one more shooter, as this witness put it:
pg203
Witness Charles Mobley: "Mr. Mobley said that the had some concerns about the timing of the events he reported, if indeed all were perpetrated by a single suspect. He noted that the had hheard the reports of smoke bombs being found near the east and west entrances within seconds of each other, and this was only seconds before he heard gunshots coming from the other hallway. He speculated that, unless some kind of a delayed timer was used, he thought it was highly unlikely that a single individual could have activated both devices at opposite sides of the building, then moved back to the area of the 'the tent' and started shooting from that area."
pg55
CSPD Det Richard Gysin: "The (deceased)suspect has one black glove on his right hand and his left hand is ungloved."
[Comment: Columbine's Harris and Klebold also wore one glove from a single pair .... who was wearing the other glove in this case?]
pg77
Witness Matthew Vogel: He and others were instructed to stand by a wall by the cops "Mr. Vogel said he heard some yelling and then they were instructed to sit down by police because of the possibility there may be another shooter."
pg150
Witness Larry Bourbonnais: "Mr. Bourbonnaisheard from somewhere in the hallway, not sure who, that their might have been a second shooter... ."
pg185
CSPD Officer Chacon(he had been at the church earlier to direct traffic): "Prior to entering I observed what appeared to be ...some type of [u]automatic assault rifle[/u] located just outside the east entrance of the prayer center"(the same door the suspect had used to enter the church).
[Comment: Murray had one rifle strapped to his body and another was found in his car. If a weapon was really found here, it means a second shooter. I seriously doubt a first responder would have left his weapon unattended.]
pg186
Witness Roy Polette: An outside witness to the shooting, "Mr. Pollette said as this person(outside) was shooting, he also heard shots being fired inside the church."
pg243
Witness Craig Langer: "....during the incident he monitored his wakie-talkie and listened to the radio transmissions that appeared to identify two people as being involved."
pg263
Witness Warren Peacock: Outside on the north side, he hears gunshots and looks to the east and "observed a black male standing there in a [u]long dark trench coat[/u]" peeking around the corner in the direction of the shots. "...he though that it was very odd that this black male was standing there watching what was going on instead of running. ....He described the black male as being somewhat tall, approximately 6'00", ...he was wearing a long dark colored trench coat that went down to his knees, dark pants, and a black or dark colored beanie style cap.
This person may have been seen by another witness:
pg385
Witness David Harris: "At this Mr. Harris saw an older black gentleman peeking around the corner at the suspect. After peeking a couple of times looking in the direction of the suspect, the gentleman turned and walked in a brisk manner in the opposite direction."
pg264
Witness Hayley Peacock: "....she saw a man on the roof of the church right above the door above the door they came out of. ...the individual on the roof was a white male and also had a black style hat on. ....he was wearing a dark or black colored shirt or coat and that the individual had a beard. She further indicated to him that he had a long gun or rifle."
[Comment: Ahhhh, the rooftop gunman!]
pg314
Witness Danny Thompson: "I could've swore I saw another shooter down the hallway, but I can't be sure."
pg320
Witness Buck Snodgrass: "..he had learned from a parishoner at the church that there were apparently [u]three individuals[/u] in a red Toyota that had thrown the smoke grenade. .....It was Mr. Snodgrass' impression that there was possibly more than one individual that was shooting in the area."
[Comment: Murray's red Toyota was found parked in the south parking lot.]
pg339
Witness Dianne Cole: ".... She stated she also heard over the radio there were multiple suspects."
pg355
15 additional smoke grenades found in Murray's vehicle, as well as a "black nylon thigh rig which contained numerous magazines full of ammunition.."
[Comment: As there was also a AK-47 and another vest in the car(pg155), one has enough gear to equip one more shooter.]
pg406
Witness Carl Chinn, part of the security detail: ".....Mr. Chinn heard, over his security radio, someone say, "We've got more than one shooter!"
pg472
Witness Jeanne Assam: "Jeanne said there were concerns that there were as many as two or three more people involved... "
According to the official version of events, Murray killed himself with a final shot to the head with a pistol he was carrying:
pg459
--"The deputy coroner identified several wounds to the shooter, including a wound to the left leg, left wrist and hand, chest, and a head wound that was probably inflicted through the mouth.
[Comment: Emphasis mine. No autopsy reports were included in the release. No details on the final shot are available.]
www.denverpost.com...
--Matthew Murray.... put his weapon in his mouth and fired, causing a fatal wound, according to an autopsy report released .... .
There were three good eyewitnesses to Murray's final minute, all within feet of him. Carl Shinn and Jeanne Assam on the security detail and church attendee Larry Bourbonnais. Yet despite their excellent vantage points, exactly none of them said they saw Matthew Murray shoot himself.
pg407
Witness Carl Chinn, part of the security detail:
"...he and Jeanne got to the gunman at about the same time. .... He said the gunman's left hand and index finger were near the trigger of the rifle. Mr. Chinn said he was standing on the left side of the gunman and was pointing his gun at the gunman's head and was holding it approximately 8" from the gunman's left temple. He said he was watching the gunman's eyes and the trigger finger near the assualt rifle. .... He also observed blood squirting from the right side of the gunman's neck area."
[Comment: The blood exiting the neck must have been the final shot. In which case Murray's hand should have been on or near a pistol, not a rifle.]
pg468
Jeanne Assam said she popped out from cover when she heard the suspect reloading, and started shooting. "...she continued to shoot and she had the impression that he was going to pull a grenade so she continued to shoot while he was down. Jeanne said the shooter said something about shooting himself, perhaps: "I'm just gonna shoot myself," and he did something; she thought it had to do with a grenade. ...." "..and then a shot was fired. .... I asked Jeanne if she was talking about her gun shooting or his gun shooting. Jeanne said it could have been his gun but that she was not talking about her gun. Jeanne used her right hand and gestured up toward her right temple with a simulated handgun and indicated she didn't see the shooter do anything of that nature. ... I asked Jeanne about the distance between her and the shooter at this point. Jeanne .... estimated she was couple of feet back from his feet and covering him in a ready position... ....Jeanne said the shooter was bleeding from his mouth and she also saw blood on the right side of his neck."
pg475
CSPD Det. Happ:
"I asked Jeanne about the shooter's (statement) that he was going to kill himself and if she fired any more shots after he made that statement. Jeanne said she did because she believed he was going to pull the pin on a grenade."
[Comment: In this statement Jeanne directly contradicts her earlier account.]
pg142
Witness Larry Bourbonnais: He "said that he saw the female shoot the suspect and he saw a pool of blood forming near the suspect's head as the suspect "bled out."
Well it does not look like a suicide to me. By the preponderance of the evidence, the security guard Jeanne Assam fired the final, fatal shot. But it also looks like a pistol was put into his mouth for the fatal shot. That would make this kind of a "coup de grace"-type shot. Perhaps suitable for an execution, but a big no-no for anybody else. You could even call it murder. Which explains why the witnesses suddenly could see no evil. After all, Matthew Murray was the villain here. Why complicate the issue by criminally charging the heroine of the incident?
Maybe she was goaded on by Bourbonnais:
slapstickpolitics.blogspot.com...
"She fired off 10 or 12 shots and we both came around the corner and he started sliding down and he started bleeding. He looked pretty dead. I told her to take a headshot."
pg150
"As they got close to the suspect sliding down the wall to the floor. Mr. Bourbonnais said he encouraged the woman to shoot the suspect in the head to make sure he was dead.... "
And so a cover-up was born:
pg149
"Mr. Bourbonnais wanted to make sure the police understood the woman who shot the bad guy was fully justified stating, "it was a good shoot." "
Though by the sound of it, this woman may not have needed a lot of extra encouragement:
(Narrative Supplement)
Just before the shooting at about 1pm, she was talking with CSPD Officer Wyatt(assigned to the church for traffic control) and told him that she wanted to join the Colo Springs Police Dept. She ask him a question on "which divisions saw more action than others; which shifts saw more action than others. Jeanne also ask me if I was ever involved in a deadly force situation."
And according to a witness, Jeanne seems to have come to that church under unusual circumstaces:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1937068/posts?q=1&;page=451
--(#884)
Another interesting piece of information: [daughter] has been doing bible study with a lady who is a police officer and a “sharp shooter.” Recently she felt led to contact the church and offer her services as a “security guard” because she felt that there was a risk of some looney doing something crazy. She was apparantely the one who killed the shooter.
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