On Sunday morning Matthew Murray arrived at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, armed with an automatic rifle, two handguns, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Earlier he had entered the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) training center for missionaries near Denver and shot four of its staff members, killing two. He drove 65 miles south to 10,000-member New Life Church, where local police officers were directing traffic departing the morning's second service. He parked and waited.

Hundreds remained inside the church, browsing through the bookstore, chatting over coffee at the food court, or praying with the elders.

Suddenly Murray got out of his car and started firing in the parking lot. David Works, shot twice in the torso, was among those seriously wounded. His daughters, Stephanie, 18, and Rachel, 16, were shot with him inside the family van. Stephanie died at the scene. Rachel, mortally wounded, would die later at the hospital.

Then Murray, 24, entered the church building, shooting indiscriminately. ...