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NY Times
There was a heavy police presence at the Faith Bible Chapel campus in Arvada, Colo., on Sunday morning after a shooting left two missionaries-in-training dead.
By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: December 9, 2007
Two missionaries-in-training were killed early today and two more were wounded when a gunman burst into a residence hall at the Youth With a Mission center in the Denver suburb of Arvada, the police said.
Police officials said they did not know whether the shooting was at random of if individuals were targeted. The gunman is still being sought.
“He entered the facility, opened fire and four of the youth inside that facility were injured,” said Susan Medina, a spokeswoman for the Arvada Police Department in a broadcast interview.
Those killed were identified by Youth With a Mission as Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska, news organizations in the Denver area reported. The more seriously wounded man is Dan Griebenow,24, of South Dakota, who has a bullet in his neck and is listed in critical but stable condition. The fourth victim, Charlie Blanch, 22, had bullet wounds to a leg.
Peter Warren, director of Denver operations for the group, was quoted by the Denver television station KUSA as saying a Christmas banquet was just ending as the gunman showed up and asked Ms. Johnson if he could stay for the night. When he was refused, Mr. Warren said, the gunman pulled out an automatic handgun and started shooting.
Youth With a Mission is an evangelical Christian group that trains people to be missionaries overseas. “In every case, our passion is to know God and to make Him known,” a section of the group’s Web site declares. The residence hall was on the Faith Bible Chapel campus of the group.
The shooting took place shortly after midnight, and “the suspect then fled the scene on foot and we conducted an extensive canine track,” Ms. Medina said. “Unfortunately, he remains at large”
The gunman was described as a white man, about 20 years old, who was wearing a white coat. He may have facial hair and may have been wearing a dark beanie-style hat.
“The young man — I don’t know who he is and I don’t think they knew him — but he must be going through a lot personally in his own life to do something like this,” Mr. Warren was quoted as saying.
The wounded were taken to Denver-area hospitals, and the police evacuated about 45 people were still in the residence hall to an off-campus location. The police said they were hoping that interviews with the displaced people would turn up additional witnesses and a clearer description of the gunman.
The police also made telephone calls to neighbors to warn them of the possibility that the gunman might still be in the vicinity and to look for clues, such as tracks in the snow that was falling in the area.
“This is a very extensive crime scene,” Ms. Medina said. “We have a number of people to interview.” Crime scene technicians have sealed off the building, she said, while they try to figure out just what happened.
There was a heavy police presence at the Faith Bible Chapel campus in Arvada, Colo., on Sunday morning after a shooting left two missionaries-in-training dead.
By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: December 9, 2007
Two missionaries-in-training were killed early today and two more were wounded when a gunman burst into a residence hall at the Youth With a Mission center in the Denver suburb of Arvada, the police said.
Police officials said they did not know whether the shooting was at random of if individuals were targeted. The gunman is still being sought.
“He entered the facility, opened fire and four of the youth inside that facility were injured,” said Susan Medina, a spokeswoman for the Arvada Police Department in a broadcast interview.
Those killed were identified by Youth With a Mission as Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska, news organizations in the Denver area reported. The more seriously wounded man is Dan Griebenow,24, of South Dakota, who has a bullet in his neck and is listed in critical but stable condition. The fourth victim, Charlie Blanch, 22, had bullet wounds to a leg.
Peter Warren, director of Denver operations for the group, was quoted by the Denver television station KUSA as saying a Christmas banquet was just ending as the gunman showed up and asked Ms. Johnson if he could stay for the night. When he was refused, Mr. Warren said, the gunman pulled out an automatic handgun and started shooting.
Youth With a Mission is an evangelical Christian group that trains people to be missionaries overseas. “In every case, our passion is to know God and to make Him known,” a section of the group’s Web site declares. The residence hall was on the Faith Bible Chapel campus of the group.
The shooting took place shortly after midnight, and “the suspect then fled the scene on foot and we conducted an extensive canine track,” Ms. Medina said. “Unfortunately, he remains at large”
The gunman was described as a white man, about 20 years old, who was wearing a white coat. He may have facial hair and may have been wearing a dark beanie-style hat.
“The young man — I don’t know who he is and I don’t think they knew him — but he must be going through a lot personally in his own life to do something like this,” Mr. Warren was quoted as saying.
The wounded were taken to Denver-area hospitals, and the police evacuated about 45 people were still in the residence hall to an off-campus location. The police said they were hoping that interviews with the displaced people would turn up additional witnesses and a clearer description of the gunman.
The police also made telephone calls to neighbors to warn them of the possibility that the gunman might still be in the vicinity and to look for clues, such as tracks in the snow that was falling in the area.
“This is a very extensive crime scene,” Ms. Medina said. “We have a number of people to interview.” Crime scene technicians have sealed off the building, she said, while they try to figure out just what happened.
