The Associated Press
ARVADA, Colo. — A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early today and opened fire, shooting four people.
Two people, one male and one female both in their mid-20s, died and one is in critical condition, 9News reported. The condition of the fourth victim was not immediately available.
The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center near West 64th Avenue and Ward Road, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory.
The gunman was still at large this morning.
Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and dark beanie or skull cap. He may have glasses or a beard.
Police searched through the night with several dogs and nearby houses were notified via 911 to be on the lookout. Medina said residents should look out their windows to see if the snow had been disturbed overnight.
About 4 inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day.
The dormitory is on the campus of the Faith Bible Chapel. People bundled up against subfreezing cold trickled into the sanctuary for Sunday services as detectives conducted their investigation at the dormitory, about 300 yards away.
Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week discipleship course that prepares them to be missionaries.
He said the center trains about 300 people a year.
Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center at the Faith Bible Chapel campus was founded in 1984.