Dec 19, 2007 9:01 pm US/Mountain
911 Tapes Provide New Insight Into Church Gunman
DENVER (CBS4) ―
More 911 tapes have provided new insight into what police knew about the young man who opened fire at two Colorado churches, and there's also new information in what officers found in Matthew Murray's home.
Police received a call in September that sounded routine, but in retrospect it was not. Three months before the shootings, the manager of a The UPS Store called Greenwood Village police to report Matthew Murray was receiving ammunition and something didn't seem right.
Dispatcher: "What's odd about him?"
The UPS Store manager: "Just nervousness."
Dispatcher: "Okay, did you want to talk to an officer?"
The UPS Store manager: "Well, can he come out here?"
Dispatcher: "Well, they can call you, I mean they can come out there, but I don't know what they can do out there that they can't do over the phone."
The UPS Store manager: "Okay, yeah."
Greenwood Village police sent an officer there and he was shown .40 caliber ammunition that Murray was receiving in his postal box. The officer checked Murray's background and found no criminal activity was involved.
"There's no criminal activity," the officer said in a radio report. "RP (responding party) just had some questions about what items can be sent through the mail."
No contact was made with anyone at Murray's home in Arapahoe County. Then on Dec. 9, two people were shot to death at the Youth With a Mission dormitory in Arvada. And two sisters were killed at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
Police discovered the earlier call from The UPS Store. A search of Murray's home took place a short time later. Court records show in Murray's room they found ammunition, a bible, a journal, a certificate from Youth With a Mission, a tactical knife and a pistol.
In the dining room, on the table, there was a picture of former New Life pastor Ted Haggard, a police homicide investigation manual, prescription pills for anxiety and a pamphlet entitled "The Fall of America."
The documents also show a rifle scope was found, ammunition, and a critique of former pastor Ted Haggard. He left the New Life Church after allegations were made of a relationship with a male prostitute.
Police also found Murray's computer and are in the process of going through it.
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