Noah Jacob Harpham, a recovering alcoholic, has been identified as the mad man who roamed the streets of Colorado Springs and killed three random strangers. According to the police, Mr. Harpham left some manifesto before committing the horrific murders in which he slammed his father for becoming a member of a church in California.
According to reports, Noah Jacob Harpham, 33, (who was killed by police), was the gunman who took the lives of three innocent people on Saturday in Colorado. It is now being revealed that Heather Harpham Kopp, Noah Jacob Harpham’s mother, wrote extensively about her son’s battle with alcohol and drug addictions in her critically-acclaimed book, Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk.
Witnessed told authorities that Noah Jacob Harpham dressed in a green jacket was seen casually strolling in the streets of Colorado Springs on Saturday morning when he suddenly pulled out a rifle and a revolver from his backpack and killed a bicyclist, who begged for his life. Harpham shot the young man numerous times.
He walked less than a mile and fatally shot two women, who were on the porch of a sober living home. The victims were later identified as Christy Galella and Jennifer Vasquez. Harpham first gunned down Vasquez, who was sitting outside the house, causing Galella to come out to see what was going on. A lengthy gun battle between the police and Harpham took place, assuring his death. Matthew Abshire, who followed the gunman after he heard gunshots and tried to help the female victims, told the media:
“It looked totally random. I looked out my kitchen window and I saw a man in a green jacket firing an AR-15. … [I] waited a few seconds, went out of my house, looked to my left and saw a man down the street, probably 50 feet. I started following him and I called the cops.He walked calmly and collectedly. His demeanor was like he was having a stroll in the park.”
After the killings, police discovered a YouTube video posted by Harpham called “Is my Dad in a Cult, and even worse is it Satanic?” where he appeared puzzled as to why, his father, Thomas Harpham, follows Rev. Bill Johnson‘s teachings at the Bethel Church in Redding, California.
It has also been unearthed that along with his struggles with alcoholism, the murderer recently hit a rough patch recently after his girlfriend dumped him. The killer’s mother, Heather Kopp Harpham, a freelance writer wrote in her book that both herself and her son struggled with addictions. She wrote:
For her, as for many Christians who struggle with addiction, overwhelming shame and confusion only made things worse. Why wasn’t her faith enough to save her? Why didn’t repentance, Bible reading and prayer work? Where was God?
She continued:
Meanwhile, as she watched in horror, her grown son descended into his own nightmare of drugs and alcohol. She feared for his life, yet she couldn’t stop drinking long enough to help him–or find a way out for herself.
What are thoughts on this tragedy?
