Gunman kills 6 in Crandon, WI

**Sm0kah0ntas** · December 10th, 2007, 06:33 AM

CNN) -- A sheriff's deputy shot and killed six people in Crandon, Wisconsin, early Sunday before dying himself under circumstances that remain under wraps, the town's police chief said.

Tyler Peterson, a sheriff's deputy, shot and killed six people, police said.

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The assailant, Tyler Peterson, also worked part-time as a Crandon police officer.
Forest County Sheriff Keith Van Cleve said Peterson was "about 20" and was not on duty at the time of the shootings.
Schools superintendent Richard Peters told The Associated Press that three Crandon High students were killed and another three who died had graduated within the past year.
The victims were at a house party together. Residents say one of those killed is or was the shooter's girlfriend.
A survivor of the shooting was in critical condition Sunday night, and a Crandon police officer was treated for minor injuries, according to AP.
"I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream," Jenny Stahl, mother of 14-year-old victim Lindsey Stahl told AP. "He took them all out."
Karly Johnson, 16, told AP she knew the shooter.
"He was nice. He was an average guy. Normal. You wouldn't think he could do that," Johnson said.
She said he had helped her in a class and had graduated with her brother. Peters, however, said he could not confirm whether the shooter graduated from Crandon High.
Police Chief John Dennee would not say Sunday evening how Peterson died.
Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley said the assailant had been brought down by a sniper, AP reported.
The shootings took place about 2:45 a.m. at a home in Crandon, a town of about 2,000 people 220 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Neither Dennee nor Van Cleve would discuss details of the shootings or identify the victims. They said officials would address questions Monday. Dennee told AP the victims were having "a pizza and movie party."
Marci Franz lives two houses south of the duplex where the shootings occurred.
"Initially, it sounded almost like a hammer on tin," Franz told CNN affiliate WJFW. "It was loud enough to wake me, but I wasn't sure it was gunshots."
The state attorney general's office will investigate the case, Van Cleve said.
Kevin St. John, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, said the agency's criminal investigation unit routinely investigates cases of a "statewide or significant nature."
Van Cleve called the situation "very difficult" for his officers and the community.

Watch how the small town is handling the shock of the shooting »
Bud Evans, an elder at Praise Chapel Community Church, said relatives of some of the victims of the shooting were gathering at his church.

One of the six victims was 14-year-old Lindsey Stahl, her mother said.

Evans said watching members of the community suffer left him with "a helpless feeling."

Shooter dead along with six victims in rampage - CNN.com

**Sm0kah0ntas** · December 10th, 2007, 06:40 AM

Colorado police seek links in shootings at church, missionary center

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Police in two Colorado cities were looking for possible connections between deadly attacks on worshippers at a Colorado Springs megachurch and on a Christian missionary center in suburban Denver.

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The two shootings have left four victims dead and six wounded, authorities said. The gunman at the megachurch also died.
Arvada Police Chief Don Wick said there is reason to believe the shootings are related, although he did not elaborate.
Overnight, Arvada police were also helping to execute a search warrant obtained by Colorado Springs police at an address in Englewood, another Denver suburb, according to Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina.
The black-clad gunman who attacked worshippers at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, initially killing one and wounding four, was killed by "a courageous security staff member," Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said.
One of the wounded died late Sunday, according to a Penrose-St. Francis Hospital spokeswoman Amy Sufak.
"The suspect was confronted by a security guard," Myers said at a news conference late Sunday. "She shot the suspect, and the suspect subsequently died at the scene."
Detectives in the Denver suburb of Arvada were "working closely" with their counterparts in Colorado Springs to determine whether the attack on New Life Church was related to the shootings that left two staffers dead and two wounded at a live-in training center for Christian missionaries about 12 hours earlier, Wick told reporters.
Asked by reporters if the shootings were related, Wick said: "Yes, there is a reason to believe that, although this is active and I can't release that."
"Until we have evidence which conclusively ties these two events together, Arvada police will continue to follow all leads," Wick also said.

Watch police, heartbroken pastor react to attacks »
At his late Sunday news conference, Myers said authorities from the two communities were cooperating in their investigations.

"We are working directly with the Arvada Police Department to explore if there is any possible link to the incident that they had early this morning," Myers said. "At this time, we do not have any information that would indicate that."
The identity of the man who opened fire at New Life Church had not been determined Sunday evening, Colorado Springs police spokesman Lt. Fletcher Howard said.
But witnesses' accounts of a black-clad gunman shared some elements with the description issued by Arvada police after the slayings in their town, about 80 miles north of Colorado Springs.
Brady Boyd, the senior pastor at New Life Church, said leaders of the non-denominational, evangelical congregation of more than 10,000 had beefed up security after the Arvada attacks.
"Many lives were saved because of the quick action of some committed volunteers at our church," Boyd said. He said about 7,000 people were at the church, which had just completed a late-morning service, when the shooting took place shortly after 1 p.m.

Watch man describe being shot in the arm »
In the earlier shooting, Arvada police said a dark-jacketed man with a beard, glasses and skullcap entered Youth With a Mission about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and opened fire after a dispute with a staff member about whether he would be allowed to stay the night there.
"The staff member contacted other staff members to help remove the suspect from the residence," Wick said. "Upon leaving the facility, the suspect turned and fired a handgun numerous times, striking four victims."
Youth With a Mission staff members Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24, died in surgery after the shooting, the group's co-founder, Peter Warren, told CNN.
He said they were cleaning up from a Saturday night Christmas banquet when the attack occurred.
The gunman had asked for housing for the night, Warren said, and opened fire when the missionaries refused. Another staff member, 24-year-old Dan Griebenow, was in critical condition with a bullet in his neck, and a second survivor, Charlie Blanch, was shot in the legs, the group said on its Web site.
Investigators tried to track the gunman through fresh snow with the help of dogs, but lost his trail in a heavily walked area, Deputy Chief Gary Creager told CNN.

Watch how a bloody Sunday unfolded »
Youth With a Mission was founded in 1960, and operates in more than 1,000 locations in 149 countries, according to its Web site. The Arvada center is home to dozens of people from around the world training as Christian missionaries.
"These kids were like our kids, you know?" Warren told CNN affiliate KUSA. "It's just such a tragedy."
In Colorado Springs, New Life member Ashley Gibbs said she heard five shots in quick succession as she and her boyfriend headed for their car. A short time later, she heard several more shots -- and saw one hit the snow about 100 feet away from her car.
"I saw the guy for just a second," she said. "He was wearing a big, black trenchcoat and carrying a big gun."
Gibbs said she hadn't heard about the shootings in Arvada, and said she was "completely shocked" by the sound of gunfire.
"I never thought that anything like this would ever happen," she said. "That's why when I heard the gunshots, I didn't think they were gunshots."
Gibbs description of the man -- in his early to mid-20s, dressed in a dark coat -- sounded similar to the description of the man behind the Arvada killings.
But she could not recall any facial hair, as survivors of the attack on the missionary center described. And she said she did not know what kind of weapon he carried, but said it was "a big one -- you had to hold it with two hands."
When it was over, Myers said, the gunman and one church member were dead on New Life's grounds. The wounded were taken to Penrose-St. Francis Hospital, where one remained hospitalized in fair condition late Sunday, according to a hospital representative.
Myers said authorities had wrapped up their investigation of "several suspicious devices" the man left behind.
"The suspicious devices that were located turn out not to be explosive in nature, but appear to be smoke-generating devices," he said late Sunday.

Philip Crouse, 24, and Tiffany Johnson, 26, were killed at the missionary center.

Colorado police seek links in shootings at church, missionary center - CNN.com

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD????

**crumpet** · December 10th, 2007, 08:22 AM

I don't understand why people are so fucked up that they feel it's okay to kill people because they are unhappy or angry about something.

**VenusInFauxFurs** · December 10th, 2007, 09:03 AM

^^Yeah really, kill yourself -- fine go right ahead, leave innocent folks alone.

**Grimmlok** · December 13th, 2007, 09:17 PM

It's looking like the young man who last Sunday shot and killed four congregants and then himself at Colorado's New Life Church, Ted Haggard's former home, was a cast out from their youth ministry, probably because he failed their attempts to make him "ex-gay".

As noted by Richard Rothstein, Mathew Murray posted on his blog that he had written letters to his mother, complaining that the church had forgiven Haggard, but not him.

Last summer, he wrote, "People like us are going to go to hell, according to Christians." He lists several reasons why. Reason number seven is bluntly stated, "I'm bisexual." In other postings, Murray wrote, "... I can never get a female date. I am at least able to get some male action."

And later, he wrote about confronting his mother about his bisexuality.

Murray wrote that he told her, "Using drugs, alcohol and having gay sex, I'm just trying to do what any Christian pastor would do. At least I'm not doing meth like Ted Haggard."

Murray also noted that the Church forgave Haggard.

He posted, "I want to know where was all the love, mercy and compassion for my supposed imperfections?"

In 2002, Murray was dismissed from New Life's Youth With A Mission group for what the church describes as "health reasons." Youth With A Mission has been described as "associated with the ex-gay organization Exodus International, has been criticized by some as a 'cult' and attacked for 'brainwashing' members and promoting anti-gay messages."

Rothstein concludes his above-linked post with, "At least in Iran, the executions of gay men are swift. In the United States we prefer to slowly drive our gay children insane so that they grow up to be monsters."

Will the Christanist right and the "ex-gay" movement take the deadly example of Matthew Murray and his victims to heart? Or will this horrible incident only strengthen their resolve to continue attempting to pray the gay away? I expect the latter. Look for the Christianists to leverage the Murray shooting into even more ugly vitriol against gays. Bet on it.

Joe. My. God.: The Fatal Cost Of The "Ex-Gay" Movement

sad.

**celeb_2006** · December 13th, 2007, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by crumpet

I don't understand why people are so fucked up that they feel it's okay to kill people because they are unhappy or angry about something.

That's our society and world for ya, all of your pains and supposed slights are reason enough to kill as many people as you can along with yourself. It's not "enough" to kill yourself, you go to take as many as you can with you to eternal infamy.