In the quiet, early hours of a December morning, the life of 24-year-old Philip Crouse was tragically cut short. On December 9, 2007, Crouse was at the Youth With a Mission training center in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, when a former trainee, 24-year-old Matthew Murray, arrived at the dormitory. Murray had been dismissed from the program years earlier and harbored a deep-seated resentment. He requested to stay the night but was politely refused.
In response, Murray opened fire, killing Philip Crouse and another staff member, 26-year-old Tiffany Johnson. Two other people were also wounded in the attack before Murray fled the scene.
The violence, however, did not end in Arvada. Roughly 12 hours later, Murray drove to Colorado Springs and launched a second attack at the New Life Church. Armed with multiple firearms, he opened fire in the parking lot, killing two teenage sisters, Stephanie and Rachel Works, and wounding their father and two other individuals. Murray then entered the church, where his deadly rampage was halted by Jeanne Assam, a volunteer security guard and former police officer. Assam engaged Murray in a gunfight, wounding him.
Following the confrontation with Assam, Matthew Murray took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot. An autopsy later revealed the presence of drugs in his system. Investigators found that Murray had posted anti-Christian sentiments online in the hours between the two shootings. His attack was a planned spree fueled by a personal grievance against the Christian organizations. There were no arrests to be made, as the sole suspect in the deaths of Philip Crouse and the other victims died at the scene of his final attack.
