On April 13, 2014, a pair of shootings occurred at the Jewish Community Center in Greater Kansas City and Shalom Village, a Jewish retired community, both located in Overland Park, Kansas. Three people were killed in the shootings, two were shot in a community center and one shot in a retired community.
Armed man, 73-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. from Aurora, Missouri, originally from North Carolina, was arrested in the attack and later on trial, convicted of murder and other crimes, and sentenced to death. Miller is a Neo-Nazi and a former political candidate.
Video Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting
Shootings
The shooting began around 1:00 pm. (CDT) in the parking lot behind the Jewish Community Center in Greater Kansas City, near the entrance to the White Theater. The gunman first fired a gun at two men. One of the men managed to escape immediately, while the second man tried to escape in his car. A bullet hit the shoulder bag on the man's chair, but he escaped unharmed. The gunman then fired on two men, Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, were hit by shots as they pulled into the parking lot in their car. Corporon died in a gunshot wound to the head, while Underwood died of a gunshot wound at the hospital.
During the first shooting, teenagers were in the building auditioning for KC Superstar, a singing competition. In addition, actors, crew members, and other staff are at the White Theater preparing for 2:00 pm. performance To Kill a Mockingbird . The gunman was able to fire several shots into the building. The staff inside the building were the first to make a 9-1-1 call alerting the police. Several staff members, one with paramedical training and others with military medical experience, tried survival measures on victims, but ultimately to no avail. After firing at several others, but missing, the shooter escaped in his car and fired at Shalom Village, a Jewish retired community located just over a mile away from the community center. A woman, Terri LaManno, was killed in the parking lot, and two others were shot, but the shot missed the two men.
The gunman was arrested at 2:45 pm. outside SD Valley Park by two police officers who identified him in his car using the tips provided by the witness. When he was taken away, he made an antisemit statement, according to witnesses. A police official confirmed that the gunman used the Remington Model 870 rifle in the shootings, and several other weapons, including pistols, were also found from his car. The researchers also determined whether assault rifles were also used. In a press conference, the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that it was "determined" that the motivation for shootings was antisemitism. Several items confiscated from the suspect's house in Aurora, Missouri, including three boxes of ammunition, red shirts with swastika symbols, antisemitic publications (such as Mein Kampf written by Adolf Hitler), list of kosher places, synagogues, and KC Superstar competition prints at community centers.
Maps Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting
Suspect
Miller was arrested in connection with the shootings. Prior to his arrest, news reports depicted armed men suspected of being men in their seventies who were not native to Kansas. Miller is Aurora, Missouri, a transplant from North Carolina, neo-Nazi, practicing neo-Pagan faith, and a former politician who founded and previously headed the Carolina Knights, a paramilitary organization linked to the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s, dissolved by the Center for Southern Poverty Law, after which he founded another group called the White Patriot Party. In the late 1980s, he was sentenced to three years in prison for billed weapons and plotted to kill Morris Dees, leader and founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He previously served in the United States Army for 20 years, including two tours in Vietnam.
Miller's latest comprehensive interview is with David Pakman from the national syndicate of The David Pakman Show. Pakman also appears to be a media person who recently had contact with Miller, after releasing an email transcript from November 2013. Also, The Distorted View Show previously spoke to the suspect in 2010. In late March, Miller visited the emergency room, was diagnosed with emphysema, and was told he had a 50% chance to live an additional three years. According to November 15, 2014, interview with The Kansas City Star , Miller said he started planning shootings after the visit. He also added that he believed he would die during the shootings and he often visited the Jewish Community Center in Greater Kansas City earlier, including three visits that occurred hours before he first fired a shot.
Miller is said by police officers to buy firearms from a straw buyer, allowing him to avoid a federal background check; he was unable to make personal purchases because of alleged weapons issued during his capture in the late 1980s.
John Mark Reidle, a resident of Lawrence County, Missouri, bought a rifle for Miller ("purchase of straw") at a Walmart store in the Republic, Missouri four days before the shooting. On June 5, 2014, Reidle was indicted by the jury on federal allegations of allegedly providing false information on a federal weapon form (Form 4473) to buy a rifle. Reidle is also believed to be responsible for purchasing a gun for Miller, apparently purchased at a gun show. According to neighbors, Reidle and Miller had similar political beliefs, and Reidle blew the Nazi flag on Hitler's birthday every year. In October 2015, based on a plea agreement with federal prosecutor, Reidle pleaded guilty to the indictment; he faces ten years in jail when sentenced.
Legal process
Miller is expected to face allegations of federal crime and state costs. Two days after the shooting, Miller briefly appeared in court with a video and asked for a lawyer. He was charged with one massive murder charge in the deaths of William Lewis Corporon and Reat Griffin Underwood. Only one charge was filed in their deaths, not two because they died "as part of the same act". Miller is believed to be the oldest man accused of mass murder in Kansas history. He is also accused of first-degree murder in Terri LaManno's death. Prosecutors announced that they still had to pursue allegations of hate crime and capital punishment.
Miller made his next court appearance on April 24, where he was granted a month-long delay, with subsequent court appearances on May 29. He is currently being held on a $ 10 million bond and has not yet filed an application. On May 27, he was also charged with three counts of first-degree murder attempts and an additional number of aggravated attacks and criminal firearms firing in an occupied building. Two days later, Miller's preliminary preliminary date is scheduled for 12 November.
On October 17, the indictment against Miller was changed, and he now faces a massive murder charge for the three dead from the shootings. Three deaths were included in the alleged murder of one capital for the three deaths "as part of a general scheme or behavior", according to the County County County Court. The November 12 preliminary hearing was adjourned when Miller's lawyer requested a competency check. The request was approved by Johnson County District Court Judge Kelly Ryan after she expressed concerns about Miller's ability to help his lawyers. Agreement on the request caused anger from Miller himself, who allegedly wanted a quick trial. A hearing is scheduled for December 18 to discuss the results of the hearing.
On December 18, Miller was found competent to stand trial. Prosecutors announced that they were looking for death sentences against him.
On March 2, 2015, the initial trial began to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to proceed to court. On March 3, District Court Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan ruled that there was a possible cause for Miller to stand trial for three counts of each major murder and attempted murder. Hearing hearings have been scheduled on 27 March.
Lawyer Miller tried twice to arrange a defense bargain with the prosecutor, in which Miller would, in exchange for pleading guilty, be sentenced to life imprisonment by avoiding possible death penalty. However, on both occasions, the prosecutor refused to accept the deal.
At a hearing on May 14, 2015, Miller announced that he wanted to dismiss all his lawyers, insisting that he be allowed to represent himself. On the advice of his lawyer and the judge of such an act, Miller declared that "This is my life and I will do what I want... The death penalty does not bother me" adding that, if convicted, "I will ascend to the gurney and put the needle in me. "Finally, the judge agreed to Miller's request, provided that his lawyer remained a" standby counselor. " After taking over his own defense, Miller announces that one of the witnesses he will call is actor Mel Gibson. At the end of the hearing, the trial date is set for August 17, 2015.
On August 17, 2015, the jury selection began for Miller's trial and is expected to last for a week. About 200 people were summoned.
On August 31, 2015, Miller was found guilty of one count of mass murder, three counts of attempted murder, and allegations of assault and weapons. On September 8, the Kansas jury recommended he accept the death penalty. On November 10, 2015, Miller was officially sentenced to death by Johnson Johnson District Judge Kelly Ryan.
Victim
A 14-year-old boy, Reat Griffin Underwood, and his 69-year-old grandfather, Dr. William Lewis Corporon, was killed at the Jewish Community Center. Both are Christians and helpers of the United Methodist Church of the Rejection in Leawood. A 53-year-old woman, Terri LaManno, an occupational therapist in Kansas City, was killed in the parking lot of Shalom Village, where her mother lives. LaManno is also a Christian who attends St. Peter's Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Initial reports showed a fourth person who was shot and wounded, but later confirmed that everyone who suffered a gunshot wound was killed. Including those who were shot but escaped unharmed, only one person targeted by the shots was Jewish.
Reaction
President Barack Obama called the shooting "horrible" and said in a statement, "Although we do not know all the details about the shooting today, the initial report is very heartbreaking." US Attorney General Eric Holder also issued a statement after the shooting, saying, "I was horrified to learn about this tragic shooting this weekend outside Kansas City.These unreasonable acts of violence were all the more heartbreaking when they were done that night. "Governor Sam Brownback issued the statement:" My heart and prayer are with all those affected by today's events, we will pursue justice aggressively for these victims and criminal charges against the perpetrators or perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law. " Other politicians issued a statement in which they expressed condolences to those killed in the shootings and denounced the shooter's anti-Semitism motivation.
The Jewish Community Center offers condolences to the victims' families on its Facebook page. Four days after the shooting, the Jewish Community Center hosted an interfaith service at the Lewis and Shirley White Theater, called "The Service of Unity and Hope." More than 1,300 people attended the service, including US Attorney General Eric Holder, US Vice President Emanuel Cleaver and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. Some religious leaders from surrounding areas spoke during the service, culminating in a symbolic display of unity as clerics, elected officials and law enforcement members present were asked to gather on stage as three candles were lit to commemorate the victims..
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his grief to the families of those killed in Sunday shootings at two Jewish centers in Overland Park, Kansas. "We condemn the shooting which, according to all signs, is done out of hatred against Jews," Netanyahu said the day after the attack.
See also
- Los Angeles Community Center Jewelry
- Seattle Jewish Federation shoot
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shoots
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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