A former Youth With a Mission (YWAM) participant killed two staff members of the organization and wounded two others in Denver before killing two people and wounding three at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Matthew Murray, 24, had been enrolled in a YWAM program in 2002 but dropped out when staff members’ concerns about his health kept him from going on an overseas missions trip, according to The Associated Press (AP).
On Dec. 9, he entered the YWAM facility — used as a missionary training campus — and opened fire, killing two staff members and wounding two others. About 12 hours later, he opened fire inside New Life Church, killing two teenage sisters and wounding three others. A security guard hit him with several shots before he turned his gun on himself.
In recent weeks, Murray posted messages on a Web site for people who have left evangelical religious groups, according to AP, and his most recent posting was left Sunday morning during the hours between the two shootings. “You Christians brought this on yourselves,” Murray wrote. “All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you … as I can.”
The language in the post is almost identical to the text of a manifesto written by Eric Harris, one of the teens who carried out the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, according to The Denver Post. (BP)
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