Several Dead in Shooting at Colorado Mega-Church

My heart goes out to the families and leaders at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Details are sketchy right now, but it is obvious that a tragedy occurred there today following the Sunday services. This is a scenario we think about often and plan for as much as we can with our security teams at Granger, but you can never be completely ready. Keep them in your prayers.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) — Five people including the suspected attacker were killed on Sunday in a shooting near a church in Colorado Springs, the county sheriff said.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa told AFP there was "one gunman down" and "four deceased, possibly one wounded" in the incident but said the casualty toll was "preliminary."

It was the second shooting within about 12 hours in the state of Colorado, with an earlier assault at a Christian missionary center in Arvada claiming two lives and two wounded.

It was unclear if the two shootings were related.

The site of the first shooting in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, lies about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Colorado Springs.

The second shooting in Colorado Springs occurred near the New Life Church, an evangelical congregation with some 10,000 members.

The church made headlines in 2006 when its leader and founder, pastor Ted Haggard, was forced to resign after having committed what he called "sexual immorality."