Heroic guard suddenly in spotlight

The security guard who stopped a killer at New Life Church has been thrust into the midst of a police investigation of a rampage killer and a national media spotlight.

Jeanne Assam, 42, spent much of Tuesday walking investigators through the church foyer, pointing out where she was Sunday morning when Matthew Murray started shooting at parishioners. Murray had set off smoke bombs and shot five people before entering the church.

She also was sought for interviews by dozens of reporters, who combed Web sites and responded to tips about her life.

Assam, a New Life member who serves as a volunteer security guard at the church, has a few stints in law enforcement in her background.

Although she was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department a decade ago for lying under oath, officials from that department said Tuesday that blemish in no way diminishes her heroics at New Life.

Assam was fired in November 1997 after three years as a patrol officer because she lied during an internal police investigation, Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. Jesse Garcia said.

While on duty, Assam swore at a public bus driver, who complained to police, Garcia said.

“Under oath she denied doing any of that,” Garcia said, but police had the incident on videotape.

Swearing at the bus driver would not have been grounds for dismissal, Garcia said.

Garcia said Assam’s past doesn’t negate her actions Sunday at New Life.

“In no way are we trying to take away from the heroics that she had in Colorado,” he said.

Attempts to contact Assam on Tuesday were unsuccessful. She doesn’t have a listed phone number, and she couldn’t be reached through the church.

Assam fired multiple shots from her handgun at shooter Murray. Autopsy results show Assam’s shots weren’t fatal; Murray died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Colorado Springs police said Tuesday.

Monday, Assam credited God with helping her bring down the shooter.

“I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me. I said, ‘Holy Spirit, please be with me,’” she said.

Police and church officials say Assam stopped many more deaths.

“Fifty to 100 people could have lost their lives,” New Life Senior Pastor Brady Boyd said earlier this week. He told the Rocky Mountain News that church officials were aware of Assam’s firing when she joined the security team.

“If you go back in any of our pasts, you can dig up something on any of us,” Boyd said. “She admittedly made lots of bad decisions, but only in the past few months did she become a devoted follower of Christ. Her life has changed. She was let go, but that happens every day to good people.”

All of New Life’s armed guards have the proper weapons licenses and permits, Boyd said.

Colorado concealed-carry permits are not public information, and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene declined to comment on Assam’s permit status.

During a news conference Monday, Assam declined to reveal many details about her past, and it’s not clear when she moved from Minnesota to Colorado. Voter registration records show she lived in Westminster in 2001 and Peyton in 2004. Other records show she once lived in Lakewood.

A Lakewood Police Department spokesman Tuesday said Assam joined the city’s police academy in 2001 but left in the middle of the three-month program.

It’s not unusual for recruits to decide police life isn’t for them, spokesman Steve Davis said.

“She made the decision on her own to leave,” Davis said.

From January to June this year, Assam worked as a parole officer for the Colorado Department of Corrections, spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said. Sanguinetti declined to say why Assam left.

Today, Assam works for Messenger International, a Palmer Lake-based Christian ministry promoting authors John and Lisa Bevere.

Assam has worked in the ministry’s call center for about four months, Chief Financial Officer Aaron Ramsey said.

Workers at the ministry love and respect Assam, Ramsey said.

“We’re very proud of her. She did what she was trained to do,” Ramsey said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0274 or jennifer.wilson@gazette.com