Colorado is back in the national news with more shootings. Police are trying to determine if they are connected. Here’s what we know so far:Three people and a gunman are dead in Colorado following two shooting sprees at evangelical sites, 70 miles apart.The first was in Arvada, near Denver. The second was in Colorado Springs, about 60 miles south of Denver.

The first shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. Mountain time in Arvada, about 15 miles northwest of Denver at the offices of Youth With a Mission, an evangelical Christian group that trains missionaries. Two people were killed, and two were injured.At about 1 p.m. in Colorado Springs, about 70 miles away, at least four people were shot, one fatally, in the parking lot of the New Life Church, the 14,000-member evangelical Christian megachurch that was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after charges of sexual impropriety. Chief Richard Myers of the Colorado Springs police said a security guard had shot and killed the gunman there.

Police are treating the suspect in the first shooting as still being on the loose. He’s in his ’20s. He had asked to spend the night at the mission and was refused. 45 youths were on the premises when the shootng occurred.Governor Ritter has issued this response:

“….Violent crimes of any sort are tragic enough, but when innocent people are killed in a religious facility or a place of worship, we must voice a collective sense of outrage and demonstrate a renewed commitment to keeping our communities safe.”We have activated the Colorado Information Analysis Center, and I have directed the Department of Public Safety, Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to provide immediate assistance to the local and federal agencies investigating the shootings.”