Saturday night, starting at about 11:30 p.m. an unknown shooter opened fire on the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, ID. When the Moscow Police Department responded, two officers were shot, Sgt. Lee Newbill and Deputy Brannon Jordan. Sgt. Newbill died before reaching Gritman Medical Center, becoming the first police officer in the history of the Moscow Police Department to die in the line of fire. After firing on the police and a man from the neighborhood, the shooter took cover in the First Presbyterian Church of Moscow where he then shot and killed the caretaker, Paul Bauer, before killing himself in the church sanctuary at about 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

The police still do not know the identity of the shooter and, as such, do not know the motive for the shooting yet. They will be having a press conference on Monday where they will hopefully have more information to share.

Multiple friends of mine live in that neighborhood, right across the street from the courthouse, and are also members of the FPC. As a result of their church being a crime scene, they had their Sunday worship service on the UI campus and took the time to pray for the families of all the victims and the shooter.

Prayer vigils will be held Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Moscow at 322 E. 3rd ST.

For more information and updates, you can check at: http://www.nwcn.com/topstories/stories/NW_052007IDBmoscow_shootingsJM.88f2f5bd.html