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April 23, 2012

Pastor’s Mother Killed in Shooting Outside Colorado Church

Suspected shooter also killed by an off-duty officer attending the church.

A shooting outside a Colorado church left the pastor’s mother and a suspect dead on Sunday afternoon.

Police told KCNC in Denver that the driver of one vehicle chased another vehicle into the parking lot of The Destiny Center in Aurora after getting into an argument. Josephine Echols, the mother of church pastor Delono Straham, left the church as a service was ending to see what was happening and was shot.

An off-duty police officer attending the service shot the shooter. Both Echols and the shooter later died at the hospital.

Yolanda Marant, the church’s spokeswoman, told the Denver Post that the shooter was unknown to the members of the church.

In 2009, CT reported on the recent surge in church shootings. A year earlier, CT addressed the changes churches were considering to their security plans following the December 2007 shootings at Youth With a Mission's training center in Denver and at New Life Church in Colorado Springs

Comments

This is very tragic. Prayers and condolences for the family and church.

On a personal level, I am getting closer--much closer--to openly supporting the death penalty. Debate what you will, but the callous murderer DID receive his fair and correct justice.