Posted on 12/10/2007 8:56:33 PM PST by joanie-f
Since the tragic shootings yesterday at the two churches in Colorado I have been intrigued by the story of Jeanne Assam, the volunteer civilian security guard who took down the shooter at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
I watched an online interview with her – her first since the shootings – this afternoon, and came away with the knowledge that standing before me was a genuine modern American hero ... and a true soldier of God.
Many in the media will downplay her heroism, for reasons that are obvious to those of us who are school in their anti-liberty, anti-Second Amendment, anti-Christian bias. But be not mistaken: Jeanne Assam is indeed an American hero.
Assam, and the other dozen or so civilian security personnel at New Life Church, are all members of the New Life congregation, about half of whom are armed, and all of whom have undergone background checks, have successfully completed gun safety courses, and have CCW permits. They all volunteer because, as worshippers, they have a 'sense of ownership' at New Life. It is as if they are protecting their own home and family from intruders.
Senior Pastor at New Life, Brady Boyd, stated that Assam came to his office at 7:30 Sunday morning and informed him about the earlier shooting incident in Arvada. She strongly suggested additional security for the day's services at New Life. Pastor Boyd credits Assam for the heightened security, and for thus preventing significantly more bloodshed.
When twenty-three-year-old Matthew Murray began shooting in the parking lot of the New Life Church a few hours later, all chaos broke loose. Two sisters, Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachael Works, 16, were killed as they were getting into their van following the early service. Their father, David Works, 51, suffered two gunshot wounds -- one to the abdomen and one to the groin -- and is listed in fair condition at a local hospital.
Murray wore body armor, and was reportedly equipped with sufficient firepower (some accounts report that he was carrying as many as five hundred rounds) to bring down hundreds of people. For those who may believe that this estimate is inflated, consider the fact that reports indicate that approximately seven thousand people were tightly packed within and just outside the church at the time, and each round of Murray’s rifle ammo, if properly placed, might certainly have been capable of taking down several people. The potentiality of hundreds of victims was not at all out of the realm of possibility.
During her interview today, Jeanne Assam stated that she attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during a later service. She has had previous law enforcement experience, has had to draw her weapon countless times in tense situations related to her law enforcement experience, but has never shot anyone before.
I was deeply impressed by her humility, her quiet intelligence, and her Christian outlook. At the outset of her comments she stated, 'I want to extend my sympathy to the families of the victims, and of the gunman. And I mean that very sincerely.'
In describing yesterday’s sequence of events at New Life Church she reflected:
The shots were so loud that I thought he was inside. But he wasn’t even inside yet, he was just entering the church. There was chaos as the parishioners ran in all directions.
I just knew what I had to do. It seemed like it was me, the gunman, and God.
I saw him coming through the doors and I took cover. I came out of cover and identified myself, engaged him and took him down. I knew that I could not let this man harm any more people. I said, 'God, this is you.' I asked Him to be with me and He never left my side.
I want to do His will and not my will. Where I was weak, God made me strong. He filled me, He guided me, He protected me, and many other people.
Assam fired off about a dozen shots, three of which managed to circumvent Murray's body armor, and all of which were fired while he was moving in her direction.
When she was asked whether the previous day’s tragedy had prevented her from getting a good night’s sleep on Sunday night, she replied that she hadn’t slept a wink.
Assam is unmarried, and currently works for Messenger International, a Christian ministry organization. In connection with her affiliation there, she has found herself at a crossroads in her life and has been seeking to know God's will for her ... asking Him to provide direction and guidance. In an effort to clear her mind in that endeavor, she had been fasting for three days, with the support of other members of the ministry. Sunday was the third day of that fast, and she was in a somewhat weakened state as a result.
Toward the end of the interview, she was asked, 'What was in your mind when he went down?' and she responded:
'How awesome and powerful God is.'
She continued ... 'I've had some quiet time with God and have had a lot of people pray with me. I'm even more in awe of Him than I was before.'
It is people like Jeanne Assam -- armed, law-abiding citizens in all walks of life -- church members, teachers, students, pilots, factory workers, white-collar workers, etc. -- who will prevent such future shedding of innocent blood. Law enforcement generally arrives long after such tragedies occur – such as occurred in the recent shooting at the Omaha mall, where the killer accomplished his mission in less than five minutes, and the police didn't arrive until the mall was awash in innocent blood.
The Second Amendment proved its value this weekend when a legally armed, courageous, cool-headed American citizen saved the lives of many of her countrymen.
God preserve the Second Amendment. And God bless Jeanne Assam.
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
See my post 90. God’s hand, even if she was fired by Minneapolis, moved through all of this and brought her there. 1st because He influenced her, and 2nd because she listened and acted.
She also doesn't play the role of the victimized woman who needs a list of government programs to take care of her.
And don’t forget the man who also rushed the shooter, armed only with faith and determination.
He was willing to die, just to serve as a diversion. That’s also a supremely heroic act.
No, in fact, they are already gathering up background information to trash her.
I guess they will never forgive her for stopping what could have been the most news-worthy bloodbath in history! They were probably orgasmic over the thought of hundreds of Christians gunned down in church in America.
Hmmm. I thought that was MSM Rule #666!
Doesn't matter. Whether the woman who stopped him fired a fatal shot or presented him with his death as his only out is irrelevant. Either way, she stopped him.
I read that his gun jammed as he tried to shoot her. Anybody know if that is the truth?
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What is the source of this quote?
Wow, that was really uncalled for. Pathetic AP.
Uh... with a high powered rifle? In the midst of all that he turned it on himself and actually hit himself? Sounds fishy to me.
PING! The assault on the security lady has started.
“But everyone lies about swearing!” /sarcasm
I keep reading that prediction, but we're heading into day three of this story, and her press attention has been practically worshipful. And rightly so. At a critical moment, she had a millisecond to choose, and she made the right choice. That is what the word hero means. An ordinary person who stays cool and makes the right choices when everything is on the line. To use Hemingway's oft-quoted phrase, "grace under fire."
I saw Ms. Assam's interview with Larry King. It was awkward, painfully so. That's not a slam on Jeanne -- most people in the world are good, just, moral, and kind -- but not comfortable or glib when the TV lights are shining in their eyes.
Pastor Boyd stepped in to save the segment, because that's what he does -- preachers are casually articulate good in front of crowd. It's a core professional qualification. Again, I'm not smearing anyone -- each of us has our own set of gifts, and some gifts lend themselves to some professions. I know folks half as smart as me who don't write half as well. We each find our niche.
By all available evidence, Jeanne Assam is a smart, strong woman whose forte isn't public speaking. She deserves all the applause she's getting. If she wants out of the limelight, she deserves that, too. If she wants a ghost-writer for her book, she can freepmail me.
As writ the Bard, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. Shakespeare left out a fourth category, those who do not aspire to greatness. Folks who don't seek fame, who just want to walk their path and live their lives. If that is what Jeanne Assam wants, that is the bare minimum she deserves.
Well said.
Here is a man who has been quoted as 'hating Christians', who enters a church armed to the teeth, presumably in order to take out as many believers as possible. He is confronted by a armed, determined woman, who shoots and hits him multiple times, and he still has the ammo, and the ability, to return fire ... and yet turns his weapon on himself. Not credible.
As for our hero having been fired from the Minneapolis police department for lying about the fact that she had sworn at a bus driver while in the process of handling an incident on a city bus ... the only negative I see in that is in the decision-making abilities of the Minneapolis P.D. Their loss is Colorado Springs' gain.
Let the mainstream media dig up, or fabricate, or magnify all out of proportion, all the 'dirt' they like on this woman. To rational, informed Americans, such tactics simply serve to demean their credibility yet again. If it weren't for the fact that they are still capable of swaying the uninformed American couch potatoes among us, their single-minded rantings would be laughable.
~ joanie
As much as we'd like to believe it isn't so, I think there is more than a grain of truth in what you say.
They are reporting now that Murray supposedly committed suicide. That report defies all rational logic.
Murray was a man who has been quoted as 'hating Christians', who entered a church armed to the teeth, presumably in order to take out as many believers as possible. He was confronted by a armed, determined woman, who shot and hit him multiple times, and he still had the ammo, and the ability, to return fire ... and yet turned his weapon on himself. A media-created, agenda-driven fairy tale, if I ever heard one.
As for our hero having been fired from the Minneapolis police department for lying about the fact that she had sworn at a bus driver while in the process of handling an incident on a city bus ... the Minneapolis P.D. appears to follow the kind of politically correct dictates that handcuff their officers and allow criminals to call the shots. Thank God the pastor at New Life Church doesn't share their law enforcement philosophy.
Let the mainstream media dig up, or fabricate, or magnify all out of proportion, all the 'dirt' they like on this woman. To rational, informed Americans, such tactics simply serve to demean their credibility yet again. If it weren't for the fact that they are still capable of swaying the uninformed American couch potatoes among us, their single-minded rantings would be laughable.
~ joanie
You may be listening to conservative outlets, or perhaps you heard only early reports of her actions. But, since this morning, more and more stories are surfacing that are aimed a degrading or diminishing her heroism.
The media are reporting now that Murray supposedly committed suicide. Yet that report defies all rational logic.
Murray was a man who has been quoted as 'hating Christians', who entered a church armed to the teeth, presumably in order to take out as many believers as possible. He was confronted by a armed, determined woman, who shot and hit him multiple times, and he still had the ammo, and the ability, to return fire ... and yet turned his weapon on himself. A media-created, agenda-driven fairy tale, if I ever heard one.
As for our hero having been fired from the Minneapolis police department for lying about the fact that she had sworn at a bus driver while in the process of handling an incident on a city bus ... the Minneapolis P.D. appears to follow the kind of politically correct dictates that handcuff their officers and allow criminals to call the shots. Thank God the pastor at New Life Church doesn't share their law enforcement philosophy.
Let the mainstream media dig up, or fabricate, or magnify all out of proportion, all the 'dirt' they like on this woman. To rational, informed Americans, such tactics simply serve to demean their credibility yet again. If it weren't for the fact that they are still capable of swaying the uninformed American couch potatoes among us, their single-minded rantings would be laughable.
~ joanie
You can say that again!
The unarmed civilian is a Nam Vet...he was in the cafeteria and had just finished eating a hamburger. He heard the shots and started running toward the shots...he was next to 2 armed security guards with guns drawn...they wouldn’t shoot...he ask them for one of their guns...and told them I’m a Nam Vet and will take the guy out. Then came along Jeanne and the rest is history. Once the perp was dead he picked up his 9MM and it was jammed...so it obviously misfired...
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