Both Colorado Church Shootings Committed by Same Loser

The police have identified the shooter that killed four people in two different shootings in Colorado yesterday:

Police have identified the gunman who killed two teenage sisters outside a Colorado megachurch Sunday as Matthew J. Murray, 24, of Englewood, Colo., FOX News confirmed Monday.

According to the Associated Press, a law enforcement official said Monday that Murray is believed to have carried out both deadly shooting sprees in Colorado Sunday--the shooting at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, and an earlier shooting at a missionary training school near Denver that left two people dead.

According to reports, Murray was the son of a prominent Denver neurosurgeon and multiple sclerosis researcher, who neighbors described as a "loner."

The law enforcement official told the AP that Murray "hated Christians."

There's also more on the details of how the shooting spree was ended:

The violence began about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, when a man opened fire at the Youth With a Mission office in Arvada after he had been denied a request to spend the night there. Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and a cap, who had a handgun.

More than 12 hours later, at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a gunman with a high-powered rifle entered the church's main foyer and opened fire, Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said.

Murray was killed by an armed female security volunteer at the church before police arrived, authorities said. Officers found several smoke-generating devices on the church campus; their intended purpose wasn't clear.

Boyd said the security guard rushed the attacker, who didn't get more than 6 feet inside the building, and "took him down in the hallway."

"She probably saved 100 lives," Boyd said of the guard. The gunman, he added, "had a lot of ammunition to do a lot of damage."

About 7,000 people were on the church campus at the time of the shooting, said Boyd. Security had been beefed up after the shootings hours earlier in Arvada, he said.

New Life Church has had a rough time lately after the scandal involving their former Pastor Ted Haggard, but there's a lot of reason to commend the church today. For one thing they obviously had an emergency plan in place that worked when it was needed. I can't tell you how many churches have nothing like that at all.

Secondly, they had a brave volunteer who was equipped, ready and willing to go to battle to save lives and when it counted, she was there. She hasn't been identified yet, but when she is, she'll deserve all the accolades that will come her way. According to one report I saw the shooter had 500 rounds of ammunition with him and given the large crowd of people who were in the area, there could have been massive casualties before law enforcement got there.

As long as the world continues to have lone losers, we'll have to hope that somewhere nearby will be a hero ready to act.

UPDATE: Here's the best account yet of the end of the crisis.

UPDATE 2: Here's a good article on the hero of New Life Church.