Church members await news, ask why

Dozens of New Life Church members had just left services Sunday when word arrived of a shooting attack on the congregation and they rushed back, searching for news of friends and family members.

There was little information to be had, though. Many stood shivering in freezing temperatures, exchanging stories and taking calls on cell phones, assuring loved ones they were OK.

They all had the same questions: Who was hurt? Who was the shooter? Why did he target a church? Hard answers didn’t come for hours, if at all.

Onlookers paced calmly along the fringes of the 32-acre campus while law enforcement vehicles swarmed the area and a police helicopter buzzed overhead. Many people huddled in groups, offering prayers for victims of the shooting that left three dead, including the gunman.

A few members speculated that the attack was motivated by hatred for Christianity, or New Life Church in particular.

“You get a lot of weird looks when you say you go to New Life,” said a member who declined to give her name. “It’s just a lot of judgment because we’re so big.”

Another New Life member saw a possible link with a shooting that killed two staff members at a missionary training center early Sunday in Arvada, a Denver suburb.

“Something’s going on,” said Melanie Vaughn. “I think people are so bitter about Christians. There are a lot of issues, killing, stealing and destroying. I think some people think the church is an easy target.”

Arvada authorities said Sunday they suspect the two shootings are related.

Word of the New Life attack came nearly instantly after it happened about 1:10 p.m.

“I got a call, and I was like Are you joking?’” said Michael Barrett, 19, who said he’s attended New Life for about a year.

Barrett was at a restaurant with friends from the church when the call came. At the same time, other members’ phones were lighting up across the city.

Church member John Crist, 23, gazed at the church buildings from New Life Drive on the north side of the campus. He said he had attended the 11 a.m. service and returned looking for information because “this is like family.”

Crist said the attack on New Life was baffling because the church works to strengthen families, help the poor and for other noble causes.

“What opposition would anyone have to that?” Crist said.

Barb Hitz, who’s not a New Life member, waited on the edge of the church campus, periodically warming up in a car and talking by cell phone with her daughter, 18-year-old Veronica Hitz, who was inside a church building.

Hitz said her daughter is part of the 24/7 Leadership Academy program at New Life. Her daughter was working in the church when the shooting happened and evacuated to the basement of the World Prayer Center, a building on the New Life campus, Hitz said.

“They said, ‘Evacuate and don’t grab anything, just go,’” Hitz said.

Veronica Hitz called her family soon afterward to report she was OK.

Two church members, who identified themselves only as Sheryl and Terry, tried to keep warm outdoors several hours after the shooting.

Instead of hanging out after the service as they normally do, the couple left immediately for a performance of “The Nutcracker” at Mitchell High School.

Their son, Micah, stuck around with a friend and was withdrawing money from an ATM inside the church when he saw what looked to be a smoke bomb go off in the parking lot.

“A hospitality guy opened the door and said, ‘Run, get out of here while you can,’” Micah said.

Micah and his friend got in their car and left, he said.

Terry, Sheryl and Micah said the shooting is a spiritual attack from Satan.

“I really believe that the Lord will turn this around for his glory,” Sheryl said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0187 or perry.swanson@gazette.com. Jennifer Wilson and David Sell of The Gazette contributed to this report.