Danger and death in Arvada

Missionaries were training to serve in violent regions

By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 10, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by Darin McGregor / The Rocky

Richard Malouff holds the hand of his wife, Susan, during a prayer at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada for the families of the victims of the shootings at the nearby Youth With a Mission training center early Sunday. Two staff members at the center were killed.

Tiffany Johnson and Dan Griebenow attended a holiday masquerade party Saturday night.

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The annual Christmas banquet had ended a few hours before, and the exuberant young missionaries had scattered around the dormitory to watch a movie, chat a bit, or turn in for the night.

About 12:30 a.m. Sunday, a young man appeared on the doorstep of the local chapter of Youth With a Mission, 12750 W. 63rd Ave. The missionary outreach, pronounced "Y-WAM," is part of a Hawaii-based network of 1,100 global missionary training centers for young Christians.

The late night visitor wasn't exactly a stranger. Some of the students recognized him as the fellow who had stopped by earlier in the day to hang out with them.

"He looked like a regular kid," YWAM's Denver director, Peter Warren, said he was told by his students. Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and beanie. He may have glasses or a beard.

The young man spent 30 minutes in the building before the shooting, Arvada police Chief Don Wick said.

At one point he asked to use the restroom. Finally, he asked if he could stay the night.

When the answer was no, he pulled a handgun and killed two young staffers and wounded two others.

Suspect turned away

Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minneapolis, was in the line of fire because she was hospitality director, chosen for the role because of her welcoming personality. She was summoned from another part of the dorm to gently turn down the stranger's request to stay overnight - unauthorized persons weren't allowed, she explained.

"Then this is what I've got for you," the gunman reportedly answered and opened fire, according to Warren, who heard the accounts from the students. He and his wife, Linda, who is co-director, were at their home at the time the shootings occurred.

Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska also was killed. A week ago, the soft-spoken Alaskan had helped string Christmas lights at the home of Pastor George Morrison, whose Faith Bible Chapel, just 300 yards away, has had a friendly relationship with YWAM for 20 years. Many missionaries attend Morrison's church while they are in the training program and occasionally help out around the church and at members' homes.

Crouse used the light-stringing opportunity to get some career advice from the older pastor.

"He was full of life, talking about his future and going on a mission trip," Morrison said.

Dan Griebenow, 24, of South Dakota, was shot and was in critical condition at Denver Health Medical Center. He and Johnson were dating, Warren said.

A few hours before the shooting the couple had posed together in costume for a jaunty photo at the banquet, which had a "masquerade" theme.

Charlie Blanch, 22, was also shot and was in stable condition at St. Anthony Central Hospital.

Thousands trained

Warren described YWAM, which worldwide trains thousands of young people every year, as "like a Christian Peace Corps." About 300 students a year train at the Arvada chapter.

The interdenominational Christian missionary outreach is the largest in the world, Warren said. In Arvada, the local chapter is located on three acres the group bought 20 years ago from Faith Bible Chapel on Ward Road. The two religious centers aren't affiliated but maintain a warm relationship.

After their training, which lasts several months, "they go places around the world no normal person would go," said Cheryl Morrison, wife of the Faith Bible Chapel pastor. Some of the missionaries are due to leave soon for Afghanistan and other countries racked by war and instability. Their ministries include help for AIDS victims and orphaned children.

To think, Morrison said, they found danger and death in Arvada.

"I hope this is a wake-up call, especially for communities of faith," she said. "When there is no moral base, everything is up for grabs. Even life itself doesn't have much value for some people. If we do not restore moral teaching in this country, we will see this more and more. "

As soon as he learned of the shootings, Peter Warren called the Morrisons, who are close friends. The two couples spent the rest of the night either at the hospital or the police station, where the young missionaries huddled in hastily donned clothes and nightwear.

As soon as the gunman fled, students grabbed paper and pens to sketch out his identity, Cheryl Morrison said. She said she heard that several of the students believed they could "absolutely" identify him.

Showing no fear

During morning services Sunday, with the whereabouts of the shooter unknown, police cars ringed Faith Bible Chapel. An off-duty police officer who was also a church member sat on the stage, scanning the crowd, George Morrison said.

Evelyn McHugh, who lives nearby and attends Faith Bible Chapel, noted that recently the quiet suburban neighborhood has had a shooting at the Burger King and a violent car accident on Ward Road that took the lives of several teenagers.

But McHugh said she made a point to go to church Sunday and refused to be afraid even if the shooter is still on the loose.

"I think (God) had a purpose, a goal," she said. "I'm not fearful. I choose not to live in fear."

Police with several dogs searched the area, and residents of nearby homes were notified by reverse 911 to be on the lookout. Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said residents were asked to look out their windows to see whether the snow had been disturbed during the night. About 4 inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day.

Peter Warren mourned the two young people who died - "they're like our own kids," he said - and added that he rejected the notion that the tragedy was somehow "God's will."

"This cannot be pinned on God," Warren said. "God gave free will to people, and this was an ultimate act of supreme selfishness - to take someone's life."

Staff writer Julie Poppen contributed to this report.

Arvada victims In the early hours Sunday, a gunman opened fire at Youth With a Mission, killing two people and injuring two.

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