President Bush today will meet the security guard who stopped a deadly rampage at New Life Church when she wounded a gunman who had already fatally shot two people at the church.
Jeanne Assam, a member of the Colorado Springs church and a former police officer, was acting as a security guard when Matthew Murray, 24, began shooting at congregants as they left a Sunday service Dec. 9.
Assam shot Murray, who then shot himself in the head. Earlier, Murray had fatally shot two others at a youth mission in Arvada.
“I saw him . . . and I took cover. And I waited for him to get closer. . . . I identified myself, and I engaged him, and I took him down,” Assam, 42, said.
Bush, who will be in Denver for a fundraising event, also will present the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Cherie Yager when he lands at Buckley Air Force Base.
Yager is a volunteer at the Stout Street Eye Clinic, which provides eye care for the homeless.
Yager, an optician, has volunteered at the clinic for seven years.
Tom McGhee, The Denver Post
