Cops Search Home After 2 Church Shootings

Authorities searched a home in suburban Englewood early Monday, seeking any link between two deadly shooting sprees at Christian religious centers that left both communities baffled and stunned.

Five people, including a gunman, died in the attacks Sunday at a megachurch in Colorado Springs and at the Youth With a Mission missionary center in the Denver suburb of Arvada. Five others were wounded.

Early Sunday morning, a man dressed in black entered a missionary center west of Denver, and asked to spend the night, reports . When told he'd have to leave, he pulled out a gun and opened fire. Four people were shot, and two died. Twelve hours later, and 60 miles away, a man also dressed in black gunned down five people at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, before being shot dead by an armed security guard.

"Violent crimes of any sort are tragic enough, but when innocent people are killed in a religious facility or a place of worship, we must voice a collective sense of outrage and demonstrate a renewed commitment to keeping our communities safe," said Gov. Bill Ritter.

Authorities in both cities quickly began sharing information. Their hunch is the shootings are linked.

"There is a reason to believe that, but, again, this is active and I can't release that," said Arvada police chief Don Wick.

While there are similarities between the shootings, there are differences, reports Miller. The shooter at the missionary wielded a handgun, while the church gunman used an assault rifle.

Early Monday, authorities were searching a home in suburban Englewood, about 15 miles south of Denver, that they said could be related to the Colorado Springs shooting case.

Offices from both jurisdictions were present, reports Rick Sallinger of CBS station KCNC-TV. Officers carried out numerous boxes from the home, and a bomb disposal vehicle stood by as a precaution.

The violence began about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, when a man opened fire at the Youth With a Mission office 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 skull 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.

Stephanie Works and Rachel Works, both 18, were killed, police said Monday. David Works, 51, was in fair condition with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and groin area. Police did not describe how the three were related.

Also injured were Judy Purcell, 40, who suffered a gunshot wound to her right shoulder, and Larry Bourbannais, 59, who had a gunshot wound in his left forearm, police said. Both were treated and released.

The gunman was killed by a member of the church's armed security staff before police arrived, Myers said.

The woman guard is a volunteer and a member of the congregation, Senior Pastor Brady Boyd told reporters Monday. She is licensed to carry a firearm.

The gunman's name was not released. Officers found several smoke-generating devices on the church campus; their intended purpose wasn't clear.

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

New Life, with about 10,000 members, was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was dismissed last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with him. Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted committing undisclosed "sexual immorality."

The two dead victims at the missionary center were identified as Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24.

Johnson, who grew up in Chisholm, Minn., loved working with children and wanted to see the world, said family friend Carla Macynski.

"Tiffany was a well-liked, easygoing 26-year-old. She was friendly, adventurous and a definite leader. She wanted to see the world," Macynski said as she choked back tears. Johnson had traveled to Egypt, Libya and South Africa with the missionary group.

Crouse, of Alaska, had helped build a foster home at a Crow reservation in Montana, said Ronny Morris, who works with a Denver chapter of the mission.

Staffer Dan Griebenow, 24, of South Dakota, was shot in the neck, according to Youth With a Mission. Staffer Charlie Blanch, 22, of Burnsville, Minn., suffered gunshot wounds to his legs, according to ministry officials.

The missionary center is on the grounds of the Faith Bible Chapel. Cheril Morrison, wife of chapel pastor George Morrison, said Crouse had just hung up Christmas lights at her home and that Johnson was "an amazingly beautiful person."

Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received a warning call at about 9 a.m. telling neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked.

"Why would anybody want to hurt those kids?" Martin said.

Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week course that prepares them to be missionaries. He said the center trains about 300 people a year.

Paul Filidis, a Colorado Springs-based spokesman with Youth With a Mission, said staffers are usually former missionaries themselves and that the "mercy ministries" performed by trainees include orphanage work.

Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center was founded in 1984.

The Colorado shootings came only days after a 19-year-old gunman opened fire at a popular mall in Omaha, Neb., killing eight people and himself.