Michelle Malkin » Colorado Christian slayer update: Gunman died of self-inflicted gunshot wound

Colorado Christian slayer update: Gunman died of self-inflicted gunshot wound

By Michelle Malkin • December 11, 2007 03:39 PM

Several readers e-mailed last night about this detail involving the Colorado church shootings before it had been confirmed; now it’s hitting the wires:

The man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound, police said Tuesday.

The anti-gun extremists who are desperate to shoot down Jeanne Assam’s heroism will grasp at this detail as vindication somehow. But if not for her courage and her steady aim, he would not have gone down:

Matthew Murray, 24, was struck multiple times by a security officer at New Life Church Sunday but died after firing a single shot at himself, the El Paso County Coroner’s Office concluded after an autopsy.

Volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam shot Murray after he entered the church. Investigators had earlier suggested his death could have been a suicide, but credited Assam’s bravery with averting a greater tragedy.

You’ll note at the end of the AP piece another attempt to discredit Assam:

Also Tuesday, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said Assam was fired from the Minneapolis force in 1997 for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

The thanks you get…

Posted in: Guns

Printer Friendly

comments (100)

trackbacks (3)

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Trackbacks

Trackback URL

Comments

« Older Comments

#194063

On December 12th, 2007 at 3:56 pm, Archon said:

I’m here a bit late, but God bless that woman. I was holding my newborn son in the hospital room when this story broke, and it inevitably led to a “discussion” with the mother-in-law. She couldn’t seem to wrap her head around the “it takes a gun to stop a gunman” logic I laid at her feet. Then again, she didn’t approve of my carrying a firearm in the hospital either (or anywhere else), so who’s surprised.

Word from my sources is that the deceased was carrying a 6.9mm SPC chambered AR varient, 2 9mm sidearms, and approximately 1000 rounds combined for all weapons. No matter how you cut it, that’s a damned heavy load. This guy was loaded for bear, and Ms. Assam’s actions saved dozens, if not hundreds of lives. The word out and about is that this guy was kicked out of some New Life Church program a few years back, and had been plotting this for a while. Thank God he didn’t take the presence of sheepdogs into his plans.

And for those that are poo-poohing the other two guards who, while armed did not return fire, allow me to lay some sooth down for you: When in a CQB (Close Quarters Combat) situation, there are many things to take into account, including angle to target and backdrop. It is entirely possible that Ms. Assam was the only armed person who had A) the correct angle to make a hit, B) a sufficient backdrop to stop her bullet, if she missed the target, and C) the intestinal fortitude to pull the trigger. We don’t know what was in the background for those other guards, so let’s hold off on nay-saying them.
#194210

On December 12th, 2007 at 6:08 pm, PokerGuy said:

If he has any cojones, Bush (Cheney?) will award Ms. Assam a civilian medal for courage under fire. THAT will really honk off the libs.
#194363

On December 12th, 2007 at 9:28 pm, DemocracyRules said:

NOOO, NOOO YOU DON’T CATCH THE SPIN: “MISUNDERSTOOD YOUTH SHOT BY EX-COP CHRISTIAN FANATIC”

THIS IS JUST another sad case of ‘Christian-on-Christian’ violence. (It’s in their gun-obsessed culture, nothing we can do to stop it.) The shooter apparently was misunderstood, and violently rebelled against all that Christian brain-washing. He killed Christians because he thought they deserved it. “You Christians brought this on yourselves,” Murray wrote, according to a news report. “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.”

Mr. Murray, who wore a bullet-proof vest and helmet, was shot several times at close range by Jeanne Assam, who returned withering fire and eventually stopped him. Assam, said her faith allowed her to remain steady under pressure. “It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God,” she said, her hands trembling as she recounted the shooting during a news conference.

SO, YOU SEE? It all makes sense now, doesn’t it? Christians are murderous, and bad, and are prone to uncontrollable gun-crime. Thank goodness for atheistic socialist reporters, who tell the truth for a change.