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December 9, 2007

Two Killed, Two Injured in YWAM Training Center Shooting

Gunman at large as of Sunday afternoon.

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Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning, a man went to the Arvada, Colorado, training center for Youth With a Mission and asked to spend the night there. Police say that when Tiffany Johnson, a worker at the center from Minnesota, said no and began to discuss alternative places he could stay, the man walked inside, pulled out a gun, and began shooting.

Johnson, 26, died, as did Alaskan Philip Crouse, 24. South Dakota resident Dan Griebenow, also 24, is in critical condition and was shot in the neck. Charlie Blanch, a 22-year-old from Minnesota, was shot in the legs and is in stable condition.

About 45 YWAM students were in the facility, which is on the grounds of Faith Bible Chapel megachurch.

"The young man – I don't know who he is; I don't think [the victims] knew him – but he must be going through a lot personally in his own life to do something like this," Peter Warren, the Director of Youth with a Mission Denver, said in a press statement. "Our belief is that only God is the judge and our place is to forgive and that's a difficult thing to do, but really, I think it's the right thing to do."

The suspect is still at large.

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