Dec 10, 2007 7:13 pm US/Mountain
Official: Same Man Suspected In 2 Church Shootings
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4/AP) ―
The deadly shooting sprees at a megachurch and a missionary training school were believed to have been carried out by the same person -- a 24-year-old suburban Denver man who "hated Christians," a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
This morning, CBS4 was first to identify the Colorado Springs gunman as 24-year-old Matt Murray. His family's home in Arapahoe County was searched by authorities Sunday night and into early Monday morning. Murray's father is a neurologist. A call to his office was answered with a recording that said, "Due to an emergency, the office will be closed until further notice."
Five people -- including the gunman -- were killed, and five others wounded Sunday in the two eruptions of violence 12 hours and 65 miles apart.
The first attack took place at a youth missionary training center in the Denver suburb of Arvada; the other occurred at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where the gunman was shot and killed by a security guard who has been identified 42-year-old Jeanne Assam.
The law enforcement official said Murray was believed to be the gunman in both attacks. Murray did not appear to have a criminal history but "hated Christians," the official said. The official did not know Murray's religion, if any.
Authorities searched the Murray home Monday on a quiet street in Englewood. No one was home when a reporter visited the split-level brick home early Monday. Murray's father, Ronald S. Murray, is a neurologist who is chief executive of the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center in Englewood.
Matthew Murray lived there along with a brother, Christopher, 21, a student at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
A neighbor, Cody Askeland, 19, said the brothers were home-schooled, describing the whole family as "very, very religious."
Christopher studied for a semester at Colorado Christian University before transferring to Oral Roberts, said Ronald Rex, dean of admissions and marketing at Colorado Christian. He said Matthew Murray had been in contact with school officials this summer about attending the school but decided he wasn't interested because he thought the school was too expensive.
Investigators said ballistics from a handgun recovered in Colorado Springs match the same gun was used in Arvada.
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