Jan 5, 2008

911 calls show terror of church shooting

Erin Emery 
Denver Post
January 5, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS — Police on Friday released tapes of 911 calls made after Matthew Murray opened fire at New Life Church.

Dispatchers received 28 calls from terrified victims, including a call from Laurie Works, 16, whose two sisters Stephanie, 18, and Rachel Works were shot to death Dec. 9.

The eight-minute call from Laurie Works began with her telling a 911 dispatcher:: "There's someone shooting at us. I have three sisters, two of them have been shot."

Laurie Works later relayed that her father, David Works, had been shot in the stomach. The dispatcher, who remained steady and calm, advised Laurie to apply direct pressure to her sisters' wounds.

At one point, Laurie Works told the dispatcher she could not tell whether her twin sister, Rachel, was breathing because there was so much blood coming from her nose and throat.

About 12 hours before he arrived at New Life Church, Murray shot and killed two people, Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24, at a Youth With A Mission facility in Arvada. At New Life Church, he shot himself in the head with a 9 mm pistol after an undercover church security officer, Jeanne Assam, 42, shot him three times.

In all, Colorado Springs police released six hours of recordings, including radio traffic made between police officers as they searched the vast building for the suspect and rescued victims who were hiding in the building. Initially, police believed a second gunmen may have been in the building.

Some of the 911 callers whispered as they spoke to dispatchers, afraid they would be shot if discovered.

The calls came from people who were holed up in classrooms where religious education is taught to children and from under the stage in the sanctuary of the church. One caller reported a gunman on the roof; another reported that the shooter was dressed as a police officer, in an all-black police uniform.

Colorado law required the release of the tapes at the conclusion of the investigation, but Colorado Springs Police Lt. Skip Arms said a team of investigators who spent numerous hours with witnesses, victims and family members of victims "have expressed a serious concern about re-traumatizing those already impacted by this incident.

"The Colorado Springs Police Department is asking the media to use discretion in weighing the newsworthiness of these tapes with the sensitivity to the community and the families."


Erin Emery: 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com


http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_7884058 

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