Parents lead their children to the church next to the North Valley Jewish Community Center a day after a gunman opened fire in the lobby of the center VIDEO Children from the day camp thank the law enforcement officers who helped them. CNN's Anne McDermott has a look. Windows Media 28K 80K  ALSO: Tearful parent and child reunions after gunfire MESSAGE BOARDS: Mass shootings  Buford Furrow: • Full name: Buford O'Neal Furrow. Some accounts spell his middle name Oneal; he's also known as Buford O. Furrow Jr. Some people call him Neal. • Description: 37 years old; 5 feet, 9 inches tall; 185 pounds; brown, balding hair. • Background: Grew up in Lacey, Washington, a community in Thurston County, 60 miles south of Seattle; family lives in a mobile home on 5 to 7 acres of property. Neighbors say Furrow had recently been living with his parents.

August 11, 1999
Web posted at: 10:59 p.m. EDT (0259 GMT)

In this story: 'Relief on all of their faces' 'Hard-core Christian identity' philosophy RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Twenty-four hours after the shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center left three young children, a teen-ager and a woman wounded, a neighboring Los Angeles church opened its doors to the center and its summer camp programs.

"Nobody's going to scare us away," said J. Eliad, a parent who brought his 4-year-old daughter back Wednesday.

Police officers were also on hand to reassure the children and parents.

"Hi Nathan, remember me?" one policewoman asked a 4-year-old boy.

Nathan Powers remembered the police officers very well. They helped lead him and his fellow day campers to safety Tuesday, after a man opened fire on their community center.

Nathan delivered a thank-you note to his new heroes Wednesday, a note he was willing to share with everyone.

"It said, 'Thank you policemen for saving us from the gun, because you're our friend, and I was scared,'" recounted the very articulate youngster.

Nina Giladi's 5-year-old son, Ben, was one of a handful of children who witnessed the attack. He saw two of the children who were shot.

After being led to safety, Giladi, a spokeswoman for the center, said her son "wanted to know how the children were and he wished he could have helped his friends."

"I think that is the most difficult issue that the children are going to be left with -- that age-old question of somehow wishing you had some magical powers to not allow something like this to occur," Giladi said.

Nathan Powers wrote a letter to his new heroes: 'Thank you policemen for saving us from the gun, 'cause you're our friend, and I was scared'

'Relief on all of their faces'

The community center itself, where the lobby was sprayed with 70 bullets from a submachine gun, will be closed for at least two or three days.

Parents embraced teachers on the lawns of St. Andrew and St. Charles Episcopal church less than 50 yards from the community center. Teen-age summer camp counselors put their arms around each other as nervous parents delivered small children back to teachers and counselors.

"The minute the children saw their counselors you could see relief on all of their faces. They need to know that life goes on and that there are safe places in spite of the horrors of yesterday," said Giladi.

"The feeling was that as soon as we got back to normal it would be better for everyone. Frankly, we want to show that an act of terrorism is not going to end Jewish community center life in the North Valley," said Jeff Rouss, executive director of the center.

'Hardcore Christian identity' philosophy

The man that police believe scared Nathan and the other children -- Buford Furrow -- turned himself Wednesday morning to the FBI office in Las Vegas.

"We're just pleased that he did not carry out a more spectacular plan," said Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks.

According to police, the plan Furrow did carry out left five wounded, including three youngsters attending a day camp at the center.

Nathan and the other children escaped, single file, holding hands.

Police say Furrow escaped, too, after stealing a car, which he later abandoned. Police said the car was filled with weapons and a van traced to Furrow was loaded with ammunition.

Some believe Furrow was motivated by hate and one former neo-Nazi, who now works with Jewish groups, said he met Furrow at a Nazi-type youth camp just three years ago, where the man spoke of his philosophy.

"His philosophy was definitely hard-core Christian Identity," said Tom Leyden. "Christian Identity philosophy is that Jews are the children of Satan and the white Christian male is the true Israel of the Bible."

Meanwhile, parents like Nathan's mom said they are just glad that the suspect is in custody.

Correspondent Anne McDermott and Reuters contributed to this report.

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