BY BETTINA KRAUSE, assistant General Conference communication director

hree people are dead and four injured after a gunman entered Guam Seventh?day Adventist Medical Clinic at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 26.

Peter Maguadog shot dead his estranged wife, Lucia Magudog, and her friend Burnadette Moreno, both clinic employees. He then turned his gun on others in the clinic, wounding employees Jordon C. Urban, Betty Vence, and Anthony Cruz, along with a visiting contractor, Tom Kim. The siege ended when a team from the Guam police force shot and killed Maguadog in the basement of the clinic.

The Adventist Church in Guam is "shocked and grieved by this senseless tragedy," says Wilbur H. Claus, communication director for the Adventist Church in Guam-Micronesia. Claus says that Adventist pastoral staff have been mobilized to assist those traumatized by the attack. At a press conference late Monday afternoon, church leaders said the Agana Adventist church would stay open throughout the night to provide trauma counseling and a place for prayer.

Maguadog was a former employee of the clinic, but not a member of the Adventist Church. According to local news reports, Maguadog and his estranged wife were due to appear before the Guam Superior Court February 27 regarding a restraining order that had been issued against Maguadog.

A realization of the full magnitude of the tragedy is only now starting to break through yesterday's shock and disbelief, says Ken Wetmore, assistant communication director for the Adventist Church in Guam. The events of Monday have hit the community hard, he says. "This is a culture that prides itself on being hospitable and warm--there is a sense of disbelief that anything like this could ever happen here."

The attack has also stunned the close-knit Adventist community on the island. "When the reports first started coming in there was a lot of fear," says Wetmore. "Everybody has close friends who work at the Adventist clinic."

Immediately following the attack, the staff at the clinic "were very professional, incredibly professional" in putting aside their own trauma to take care of the wounded, says Wetmore.

Wetmore praised the response of local government agencies, including the police who responded quickly to the emergency. Madeleine Bordallo, Guam's lieutenant governor who is currently acting governor, was on the scene at the clinic soon after the siege ended and, along with other local leaders, has been "incredibly supportive," says Wetmore.

According to latest reports, those wounded in the attack are in stable condition in Guam Memorial Hospital. Of those who survived, Urban, who was shot in the head, sustained the most serious injuries. Previously an accountant at Guam Adventist Academy, Urban was in the process of taking up his new responsibilities as chief accountant at the clinic. Medical staff at the hospital say that Urban "is an extremely lucky man" to have survived the shot, Wetmore says.

"Betty [Vence] is a real miracle," says Wetmore. When confronted by the gunman, Vence raised her hand in front her face to protect herself, slowing and deflecting the bullet which lodged in the side of her face. Adventist Church leaders in Guam have called for continued prayers for the survivors and their families, and for the families of those who died. Immediately following the attack, church administrators opened a hotline for people in the community seeking more information or pastoral care. Those staffing the phones say that the lines were busy Monday night, with some 150 people calling. Agana Adventist Church kept its doors open all night and more than 70 people came to the church to seek more information, offer help, or to pray with volunteer counselors. A special prayer service was held for the community at Agana Adventist Church on Tuesday, February 27.

The Guam Adventist Medical Clinic, established in 1955, is a multi-specialty medical and dental clinic that employs more than 190 people. At the time of Monday's attack, there were reportedly around 100 people in the building. -Adventist News Network

Former Speaker for The Quiet Hour Dies
LaVerne Tucker, 79, who was the voice of The Quiet Hour radio broadcast between 1985 to 1993, died in Calimesa, California, on February 18.

Tucker, a pastor, teacher, and evangelist, was the son of The Quiet Hour founder J. L. Tucker. The broadcast was launched in 1937 when LaVerne was 15 years old. During his term as president and speaker,

Tucker expanded the ministry, broadening its mission outreach projects and adding health and family life components to its evangelistic initiatives. Tucker also launched the Search television broadcast and the New Way of Life radio broadcast, and wrote 80 books.

Tucker is survived by his wife Alma, sons Bill and John, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Washington, D.C., Adventist
Counted Among City’s Heroes
Washingtonian magazine has named Adventist Rockefeller Twyman as one of 16 Washingtonians of the Year in 2000. Twyman, a member of the New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was honored for his leadership in conducting bone-marrow drives. Through his initiative 9,000 people have been tested as potential donors since 1992. Last year Maryland Governor Parris Glendening honored Twyman as one of Maryland’s Most Beautiful People in 1999.

News Notes
Tithe in North America increased by 7.7 percent to a total of $656,938,361 in 2000, reports North American Division president Don Schneider. One reason cited for the increase is that last year had 53 Sabbaths.

Tourists in Yosemite National Park will enjoy Sabbath morning worship services in the Lower Pines amphitheater. Sponsored by the Central California Conference, the services will be held each Sabbath (Memorial Day through Labor Day) from 10 a.m to 12 noon. For more information call Don Crisp at (559) 658-8361.

Dr. Richard H. Hart, dean of the Loma Linda University School of Public Health, was recently appointed as chief operating officer and chancellor of the California-based university.

In this newly created position Hart will assume some responsibilities that had been performed by Dr. Lynn Behrens, who is president and chief executive officer of Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center. Hart will also serve as president of Adventist Health International, an organization designed to strengthen the management and professional activities of Adventist health services in developing countries.