Jeanne Assam, the Gunman, and God

Jeanne Assam says, "It was me, the gunman, and God."

DENVER -- The female security guard who shot and stopped a gunman at a Colorado Springs church [Sunday] is crediting God for helping her to resolve the threat by killing the assailant.

Jeanne Assam, was hailed by Pastor Brady Boyd with saving many lives in her quick response to gunshots fired at the New Life Church.

"I give the credit to God and I mean that I say that very humbly, God was with me the whole time I was behind cover," she told reporters. "It seemed like it was me, the gunman, and God."

Assam indicated she felt weak as she approached the gunman since she had been fasting.

"My hands weren't even shaking. I knew what I had to do," she said.

"This has got to be God, because of the firepower that [the gunman] had vs. what I had – was God. I did not run away and I didn't think for a minute to run away, I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me."

She said she's drawn her weapon countless times in her previous work in law enforcement. But she said she's never had to fire before.

Two teen girls were killed by the attacker in the church parking lot, and two other people injured in the attack by a gunman identified as Matthew Murray, 24, of Englewood.

Authorities in court papers alleged he had been dismissed from a program at the Christian Youth With A Mission missionary training program in Arvada, Colo., several years ago.

Police confirmed the attack started at the Arvada training center very early Sunday, where a man apparently seeking a place to stay appeared. He pulled a gun and started firing shortly later. Authorities said Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota, and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska, were killed, and two others injured.

He fled, only to appear 12 hours later at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. There the attack started in the parking lot, where Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachel Works, 16, were shot and killed, police said. Their father, David Works, 51, was reported hospitalized with gunshot wounds in his abdomen and groin, while Judy Purcell, 40, was wounded in her shoulder, and Larry Bourbannais, 59, was wounded in his arm. They both were treated and released.

Boyd said Assam probably saved 100 lives, and police confirmed the attacker's backpack contained clips that could have held more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition for the assault weapon he carried.

...Assam, without any sleep and clearly visibly shaken 24 hours after the confrontation, told reporters she wanted to extend sympathies to the families of the victim, as well as the gunman. "I mean that very sincerely," she said.

"I heard shots fired. It was chaos. There were a lot of people in the church," she described.

"The halls cleared out and I saw him coming through the doors. I took cover, waited for him to get closer, came out of cover and identified myself, engaged him, took him down," she said.

Church officials said they have a contingent of volunteer security officers because of the high profile of the church.

"Obviously if we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 or 100 people could have lost their lives," the pastor said.

This is black and white.

If Assam had not been armed, Matthew Murray would have killed more people.

He had already snuffed out four lives. Five others were wounded in his rampage.

There's no question that Murray was on a killing mission; and Assam ended it.

...In a commentary for [WorldNetDaily], [Charl] Van Wyk expressed condolences for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting but noted that state lawmakers there had, in effect, created a gun-free zone by banning weapons on school campuses.

"There is a striking paradox associated with mass murders. They are far more likely to occur in areas that have been designated as gun-free zones," he wrote. "Worldwide, office buildings, hospitals, convenience stores, TV studios, chain restaurants and day-care centers have all been targets of homicidal maniacs. Mass murders have taken place in such places after they have been declared gun-free zones.

"In 1999, John Lott and William Landes published a U.S. study of multiple shooting incidents. They showed that mass shootings occur less often in areas where responsible citizens may carry weapons," he continued. "Do mass shootings ever occur in police stations, shooting ranges or at gun shows? Mass murderers select soft targets for their acts of violence. Expecting a suicidal individual to honor a law prohibiting firearms is sheer utopian fantasy."

It's hard to argue with Van Wyk's assessment.

I don't have a gun. I never expect to get a gun. I never expect to fire a gun.

But I'm thankful that law-abiding individuals like Assam are trained and armed.

In an ideal "Mayberry" world, there would be no need for guns; but this isn't an ideal world.

This notion that allowing responsible citizens to carry weapons actually creates a dangerous situation is backwards.

Murray's shooting spree in Colorado was thwarted and lives were spared because Assam was armed.

As Van Wyk notes, "Expecting a suicidal individual to honor a law prohibiting firearms is sheer utopian fantasy."

The fact is firearm prohibitions serve to put the good people at risk.

Gun laws won't stop the bad guys from killing, but they can prevent the good guys from stopping the bad guys.
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About Matthew Murray:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Authorities believe the man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center posted an anti-Christian diatribe online that closely repeated a rant by one of the Columbine killers, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Matthew Murray, who was kicked out of a missionary training center where the first shooting occurred, is believed to have posted the message on a Web site for people who have left evangelical religious groups. His most recent post was Sunday morning in the hours between his attacks in Arvada and Colorado Springs, according to KUSA-TV in Denver, which first reported on the writings.

"You Christians brought this on yourselves," Murray wrote, according to the station, which did not identify the site. "All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."

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, The Denver Post reported.

The online posts spanned several weeks, the station said, and in an earlier one, Murray appeared to reject offers of psychological help.

"I've already been working with counselors. I have a point to make with all this talk about psychologists and counselors `helping people with their pain,'" he wrote, according to KUSA.

Once again, Columbine rears its ugly head.

The legacy of Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold isn't fading with time.

They are heroes to the deranged. From their graves, they serve as leaders of a murder-suicide club. They're role models for the twisted.

In a very real sense, Harris and Klebold continue to claim more victims.

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This reminds me: Oak Creek chemistry teacher James Buss makes me sick.