George Tiller was Gunned Down at Church

[RaVen Blackehart]

http://i43.tinypic.com/v67q02.jpg

The attorney for George Tiller says the late-term abortion provider was shot and killed at his church in Wichita, Kan.

Attorney Dan Monnat says Tiller was shot as he served as an usher during Sunday morning services at Reformation Lutheran Church. Monnat said Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time of the shooting.

The clinic run by the 67-year-old doctor has repeatedly been the site of protests for about two decades.

A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985.

Capt. Brent Allred said police were looking for a gunman who fled in a 1993 light blue Ford Taurus registered in Merriam.

No other details about the shooting were immediately released.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, a prominent advocate for abortion rights wounded by a protester more than a decade ago, was shot and killed Sunday at his church in Wichita, a city official said.

A City Hall official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the case told The Associated Press that the 67-year-old doctor was killed Sunday morning at Reformation Lutheran Church.

Police spokesman Gordon Bassham would not confirm the victim's identity pending notification of relatives. He said the shooting occurred at 10:03 a.m. and the gunman fled the scene in a 1993 powder blue Ford Taurus registered in another part of the state.

Bassham said no suspects were in custody. He said it is not clear whether one or more suspects were involved.

Capt. Brent Allred said police were looking for a gunman who fled in a 1993 light blue Ford Taurus registered in Merriam.

Anti-abortion group Operation Rescue issued a statement denouncing the shooting.

Tiller has been among the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions. His clinic has repeatedly been the site of protests for about two decades and he was shot and wounded in both arms by a protester in 1993.

He remained prominent in the news in recent years, in part because of an investigation begun by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent.

Prosecutors had alleged that Tiller had gotten second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent as state law requires, but a jury in March acquitted him of all 19 misdemeanor counts against him.

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/688393.html

[Pete Bondurant]

He killed too many babies.

[ineedanap]

Pete, for once, I tend to agree!

[Just my luck sucks]

RIP Dr. George Tiller

[RaVen Blackehart]

YouTube - I left my dead baby in a toilet at George Tiller's

[Dakota Valkyrie]

If you truly believe in what you are doing, why not stand up for it? Unlike his killer, this Dr. Tiller did.

Whether or not I agree with Dr. Tiller, killing him was a shameful thing.

[Amazon]

I don't agree with abortion, but for crying out loud, don't kill the guy for performing them!

[Redshoes]

the video Raven posted--- I'm slightly confused about this girl. What exactly did she think an abortion was? Was she aware that the point was to....... abort the baby? And she said that no one told her anything, but they had counseling?

You know, I do think it's sad if perhaps her parents forced her to have an abortion (which is kind of sounds like), but... I don't think you can blame a doctor for giving you the abortion that you are asking for. Doctors don't create unwanted pregnancies, nor do they force you to terminate a pregnancy. Her (or at least, her family) seemed so determined on getting an abortion that they traveled out of state, all the way from Maryland to Kansas, even.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said at a news conference late this afternoon that a suspect in the shooting was in custody and on his way back to Wichita.

The suspect, a 51-year-old male, was arrested without incident on I-35 in Johnson County about three hours after the shooting, Stolz said.

Police did not release the suspect's name.

The investigation is in its "infancy stages," Stolz said. He said the shooting appeared to be an isolated act.
[...]
The suspect's car -- a powder blue Ford Taurus registered to an owner in Merriam -- was spotted just south of Gardner by two Johnson County Sheriff's deputies. The Sheriff's Office had suspected that the man would be coming back to his home on I-35, and the deputies waited for him.

As the car was spotted going north on the highway, the deputies followed and were quickly joined by three other sheriff's patrol cars.

Lt. Mike Pfannenstiel of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said officers pulled the car over just south of the main Gardner exit and got out with guns drawn. The man then got out of his car with his hands up.

"We took him down without incident," Pfannenstiel said, adding that the man appeared to be driving the speed limit and made no attempt to elude the deputies.

Stolz said police anticipate the suspect will be charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Investigators will present the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office on Monday.

The District Attorney's Office will determine what charges will be filed, Stolz said. Federal charges are also a possibility, he said.http://www.kansascity.com/703/story/1225769.html

[dmax]

A man of God. My, how religion has changed. What a bummer being murdered, late in his healthy life. How could someone just take another human being's life like that? I wonder if he suffered or, felt any pain. I wonder if he was at peace with himself when he died.

[Just my luck sucks]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEsxTHOvCbc954sBWc59DuoqWxiwD98K3D7G0

Oh Boo Hoo Hoo, Scott Roeder says he's being treated like a criminal.

[DogMom]

PETA. Color me surprised.

Animal rights group wants to buy slain abortion doctor's clinic

CHICAGO (AFP) — An animal rights group said Thursday it wants to transform a Kansas abortion clinic that was shuttered after its owner was murdered into an animal cruelty education center.

"We want to take a building that has been a flashpoint for conflict on one moral issue and turn it into a place of dialogue on another one," said Bruce Friedrich, vice president for policy at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The Nonviolence for All Beings Center would promote vegetarianism by teaching people about the cruel way in which farm animals are treated.

"Most people on the issue of cruelty to animals don't put two and two together," Friedrich said.

"It's a reality that anyone who is eating animals is paying people to abuse animals and slit their throats which is something most of us wouldn't do personally."

The center would feature a vegetarian restaurant and each visitor would receive a complimentary video which graphically depicts how farm animals are slaughtered.

Operation Rescue, a pro-life group which spent years demonizing Dr. George Tiller for providing controversial late-term abortions, has also expressed interest in buying the Wichita clinic.

His family dismissed the offer as nothing more than a publicity stunt.

PETA does not intend to make a statement on the morality of abortion or to imply that there is a parallel between abortion and cruelty to animals, Frederich said.

"Obviously everyone is saddened by Dr. Tiller's murder but the discussion of the value of life has come front and center in the public conversation," Friedrich told AFP.

"We would be irresponsible if we didn't talk about the fact that everyone can make a positive difference in compassion every time we sit down to eat."

PETA has engaged a realtor in Wichita to inquire about whether Dr. Tiller's family intends to sell the windowless building.

The organization has been thinking about opening the center for some time and will continue to keep its eye out for an appropriate venue should the Wichita plan fall through, Friedrich said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ieDNWP-2RLxxz1hlndyAmuszoCbw

[Special2bme]

WICHITA | Gary Hoepner paused to choke back tears Tuesday as he told a judge of George Tiller’s last moments of life. Hoepner was grabbing a doughnut at the snack table in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church on the last Sunday in May.

Standing on the other side, close enough to touch, stood Tiller — the doctor whose abortion procedures had led to years of protests and disruptions outside the church. Like Hoepner, Tiller was serving as an usher that Sunday.

“He said he liked baguettes,” Hoepner said.

A man walked up, put a gun to Tiller’s forehead and pulled the trigger, Hoepner said.

During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Hoepner pointed to Scott Roeder as the man with the gun.

Scott Roeder, 51, pleaded not guilty through his public defenders. Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert ordered him to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

The 10 a.m. church service had already begun on May 31, Hoepner said.

“It was surreal,” Hoepner said of the shooting. “It sounded like a little popgun.”

Then Tiller fell. Hoepner knew the gun was real.

Hoepner said he followed Roeder out a door. Roeder looked over his shoulder and yelled, “I’ve got a gun, and I’ll shoot you.”

“I don’t argue with a man with a gun,” Hoepner said.

Hoepner and Keith Martin, another usher, had recognized Roeder as a person who had visited the church before.

Martin said that he had passed the collection plate to Roeder once and remembered him because of his smell. “It was a chemical smell,” Martin testified Tuesday under questioning by District Attorney Nola Foulston. “It was pungent.”

Both Hoepner and Martin remembered seeing Roeder at the church the Sunday before. Tiller had not been at church the previous Sunday.

Martin said he was sipping coffee when he heard what sounded like someone setting a firecracker off in the church.

Then he saw Tiller fall.

Out the window, he saw a man running through the parking lot.

Hoepner said he ran to his truck to retrieve his cell phone and call 911.

Martin, meanwhile, testified that he ran through the fellowship hall, hoping to cut Roeder off in the parking lot.

“How could you do that?” Martin said he yelled at Roeder.

Martin remembered Roeder saying, “ ‘Because he’s a murderer’ or ‘a killer’ — something like that.”

When Roeder jumped in his car, Martin was standing in front of the blue Ford Taurus.

“Move,” Martin said Roeder yelled.

Martin froze.

Roeder pulled out a handgun, and Martin said he found himself staring down the barrel.

“I’ll shoot you,” Martin testified Roeder said.

Martin moved.

Tiller was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m., Sedgwick County Coroner Jaime Oeberst testified.

Lt. Ken Landwehr of the Wichita police told the judge that after the license plate was broadcast to officers in three states, he got a call later that day from a detective in Johnson County.

The detective said officers were following the car; what did Landwehr want them to do?

“Stop the car and arrest the individual inside,” Landwehr said.

Since his arrest, Roeder has called reporters from The Associated Press, CNN and The Kansas City Star to discuss the case.

After the hearing, his public defenders declined to comment.

“Our client is speaking enough for himself,” Steve Osburn said.
http://www.theolathenews.com/119/story/480514.html

[Pete Bondurant]

A man of God. My, how religion has changed. What a bummer being murdered, late in his healthy life. How could someone just take another human being's life like that? I wonder if he suffered or, felt any pain. I wonder if he was at peace with himself when he died.




He killed babies for $5000 a pop...who cares?

[solange82200]

I still can't believe this happened. I'll be the first to admit, I personally would never get an abortion. And I really dont understand most late term abortions, the thought of them sickens me. I wish we could do away with them altogether, I dont get why would any woman wait till they are that far along? I know there are some who find out that their child will have some debilitating disease, and that is a tough one for me to really have an opinion on.

But why do these nutjobs demonize the doctors and the clinics? If so many women are willing to pay "5000 bucks a pop" like Pete says, why don't they blame them? Do they really think that if the doctors quit, the abortions will go away? Why not focus their time and energy on finding a way to make more people use contraception, etc?

By the way, if Dr. Tiller was my father or husband, Bill O'Reilly would have his ass sued. And please don't give me the freedom of speech spiel. To me, what he did was the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater:

But there's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly thanks to the collusion of would-be sophisticated cultural elites, a bought-and-paid-for governor and scofflaw secular journalists. Tiller's name first appeared on "The Factor" on Feb. 25, 2005. Since then, O'Reilly and his guest hosts have brought up the doctor on 28 more episodes, including as recently as April 27 of this year. Almost invariably, Tiller is described as "Tiller the Baby Killer."

Tiller, O'Reilly likes to say, "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000." He's guilty of "Nazi stuff," said O'Reilly on June 8, 2005; a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida, he suggested on March 15, 2006. "This is the kind of stuff happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union," said O'Reilly on Nov. 9, 2006.

O'Reilly has also frequently linked Tiller to his longtime obsession, child molestation and rape. Because a young teenager who received an abortion from Tiller could, by definition, have been a victim of statutory rape, O'Reilly frequently suggested that the clinic was covering up for child rapists (rather than teenage boyfriends) by refusing to release records on the abortions performed.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

To me, what he did was the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater:
First off, I am very pro-choice. I have worked, marched, picketed, petitioned, and knocked doors for the right... in one of the most anti-abortion conservative states around.

I disagree with you. Yelling FIRE in a crowded theater would cause normal people to run. The Pro-Life movement is made up of normal people that I disagree with. Bill O'Reilly's rantings do not cause them to run out and take up arms and shoot Doctors or become violent in any way.

People like the murderer of Dr. Tiller will always exist. They don't need people like Bill O'Reilly to fuel them.