“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies…He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support, (Psalm 18:2,3; 17,18).

A lone gunman shot four young missionaries with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) at a church in Denver killing two of them and then drove to New Life Church in Colorado Springs. New Life is a very prominent mega-church of 10,000, which had survived a scandal and firing of their pastor, Ted Haggard, thirteen months prior. Apparently the gunman had been expelled from YWAM in the past and at one time had a confrontation with two staff members at the church in Colorado Springs.

The gunman arrived at the church, waited until 1:00 p.m. until most of

the security guards had left. He placed two smoke bombs in strategic places, drove to another entrance to the church and exited his car. He had two semi-automatic hand guns, a semi-automatic assault rifle and a thousand rounds of ammunition. For more than a year he amassed these weapons. He first opened fire on a van in which there was a family of six. The eighteen- and sixteen-year-old daughters were killed (one died instantly and the other following surgery) and the father was shot twice in the abdomen. In the car there were also a twelve-year-old, another eighteen-year-old and the mother.

He then opened fire on another vehicle hitting it with seven or eight rounds and wounding the mother through the shoulder. He shot through the doors of the church, entered the hallway shooting as he went where he was confronted by a female security guard who shot him. It appears now that her shots dropped him and he then shot himself in the head.