Matthew Murray and YWAM and NEW LIFE CHURCH: Overview Article at TIME

At Youth With A Mission,

Matthew Murray had reportedly been trying to ask for a place to stay, but when Johnson tried to refer him elsewhere, he shot her...
Murray, whose last known address was with his parents in Colorado's Arapahoe County, had apparently brought several smoke bombs with him to New Life. The police bomb squad was reportedly called into his parents' home during a search. Indeed, the police had searched the home of Murray's parents before the New Life incident occurred.

There are several connections between New Life and YWAM (pronounced Why-wham): the missionary training group rents office space at New Life and some of its young trainees attend the church. Murray was reportedly associated with the YWAM Arvada center in 2002. The two murdered sisters were also said to have frequented the same center.

Might there have been some known threat that affected both organizations? At New Life, the security guard who killed Murray had been stationed in the church's central Rotunda as part of an evacuation-and-defense plan that the church's head of security implemented when news of the YWAM shooting broke. But rather than indicating a deeper connection between YWAM and New Life, Boyd said that the enhanced security was simply a precaution. "That's the reality of our world," he said on Monday. "I don't think any of us grew up in churches where that was the reality, but today it is."

Two Dead in Denver by Unknown Gunman

Early Sunday (December 9th) a gunman entered Youth With A Mission center dormitory and opened fire, murdering two staff members: Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 23. The other two were wounded; one is in critical condition; the other stable.

The gunman was apparently a 20-year-old white male, wearing a jacket and cap, possibly sporting a beard and wearing eyeglasses. He has not been apprehended.

Denver Shooting at Youth Missionary Training Center

DENVER - A gunman walked into a training center for young Christian missionaries in a Denver suburb early Sunday and opened fire, wounding at least four people.

The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Youth With a Mission center, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said.

The extent of the injuries was not clear, and the gunman was still at large Sunday morning.

According to its Web site, Youth With a Mission has about 1,000 locations worldwide and trains people to become missionaries. About 50 people were inside the Arvada site when the gunman opened fire.