Dec 16, 2007 7:13 pm US/Mountain
Gunman's Funeral Has Message Of Hope, Forgiveness
DENVER (AP) ―
-
-
Matthew Murray in a photo taken at a family gathering in 1998.
CBS
-
-
Matthew Murray, 1998 family photo, with niece
CBS
Mourners for a man who killed himself after two deadly shootings at Christian centers searched for hope at his funeral.
Nearly 300 people came to support the family of gunman Matthew John Murray, 24, at a private service Friday, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Police said he killed four people and wounded five others at shootings Dec. 9 in Arvada and Colorado Springs.
"Even though Satan attacked my brother, I truly feel God is going to save a whole generation of people through this," said Murray's younger brother, Chris Murray, at the service.
The chapel at Fairmount Cemetery echoed with amens.
"I can tell you we have struggled as a family," said Murray's uncle Phil Abeyta, the pastor who presided over the service. "Words can't begin to describe the depth of our despair."
Mourners told stories of a boy who could outrun anyone on the soccer field, who practiced quick-signing his signature in preparation for giving autographs as a major leaguer, a kid who could assemble puzzles with the picture side face-down, beat older relatives at chess and grew savvy at computer repairs.
"We love Matthew with all our hearts," his mother wrote in comments read by a relative. "Just as his name means 'gift of God,' he was totally a gift of God to us."
The Murray family met privately with victims' families Wednesday to grieve. Andy Ronchak, the uncle of 26-year-old Tiffany Johnson, said then that the Johnson family felt she would have wanted them to forgive. She was killed at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada.
Abeyta said the families' words of forgiveness "shook me to the core."
After the meeting, Abeyta said, the Murray family "committed ourselves to finish the work of those young people who had given their lives -- and to reach out to people just like Matthew."
"Reach out to those around us, and look to the dark places and search out the people like Matthew," Abeyta told mourners, "that need to know this love and grace and forgiveness."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments