Posted on 01/01/2009 7:20:44 AM PST by NYer
NEDERLAND, Colo. – A gunman who broke into a staff meeting at a Colorado ski resort ranting about religion asked the manager what he believed and shot him twice when the victim responded he was Catholic, according to reports published today about the tragedy.
The gunman later was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy in a firefight alongside a snowy mountain road, authorities confirmed.
The Boulder County coroner identified the gunman as Derik A. Bonestroo, 24, who had been living in Nederland. According to a report in the Boulder Daily Camera, witnesses said Bonestroo burst into the staff meeting yesterday at the Eldora Mountain Resort near here.
Sheriff Joe Pelle said Bonestroo was yelling something about religion to employees when resort General Manager Brian Mahon heard the commotion and came into the room. The Camera said witnesses reported the shooter asked Mahon which religion he believed, and when Mahon said he was Catholic, the shooter fired twice and killed him.
Sheriff's Commander Phil West said, "There are various interpretations about what was said. Witnesses told us (Bonestroo) had been through some emotional crisis."
Mahon, 49, leaves behind a wife and two children. He had worked at Eldora since 1991.
According to a statement from Boulder County Undersheriff Tom Shomaker, deputy John Seifert was on duty in Nederland when the call came in about the shooting. Told the shooter had fled and given a description of the vehicle, Seifer spotted a suspect vehicle on the Peak-to-Peak Highway only a few miles downhill from the ski area. After a short pursuit, the suspect vehicle stopped, the sheriff said.
"The male driver immediately opened fire on the deputy after stopping his vehicle," the sheriff's department statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Prayers for him and his family.
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The guy probably read some of the anti-Catholic posts on this site and got carried away.
Strange.
Yeah, I'm sure that's it. Couldn't be that he was just some crazy bastard.
I somehow sincerely doubt that.
All holy martyrs of God, pray for us!
That would qualify him as having written some of them.
and he got some shooting tips here too
No, evil is not battling with God, who is in control, but with those who would follow God and spread His word.
And don't doubt that evil can don a nice smile and obtain power with smooth phrases.
For years it was said that anti-Catholic bias was the only acceptible form of bigotry left in America.
Some would think the title is misleading
Prayers for the poor man’s wife and kids.
And they would be incorrect.
Coroner’s Office says 24-year-old lift operator, Derik A. Bonestroo of Nederland, who shot and killed the general manager of Eldora Mountain Resort died after shooting himself.
It’s going to get ugly here real fast ...
Heh. Thanks, that was my first chuckle for the day -and 2009.
Has anybody come up with the term Christianphobes yet?
Could the killer have been a Muslim convert?
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