DR. GEORGE TILLER KILLED CONTROVERSIAL LATE TERM ABORTION DOCTOR SHOT MURDERED AT KANSAS CHURCH0 comments

Controversial late term abortion doctor, George Tiller was shot and killed during a Kansas church service. Tiller was a hot topic of discussion on conservative talk show host Bill O’Reilly’s Fox program”The O’Reilly Factor”.

“Members of the congregation who were inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting were being kept inside the church by police,” the Wichita Eagle reported, “and those arriving were being ushered into the parking lot.”

Media reports said the suspected killer fled the scene in a blue Taurus. Police described him as a white male in his 50s or 60s.

Tiller has been among the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortion, making him a favored target of anti-abortion protesters. He testified that he and his family have suffered years of harassment and threats. His clinic was the site of the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests marked by mass demonstrations and arrests. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

Tiller’s clinic also provided group and individual counseling, as well as chaplain and funeral services for people who were grieving.

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which runs a “Tiller Watch” feature on its website, released a statement condemning the shooting. “We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller’s family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”[HUFFINGTON POST]

One of the nation’s most controversial abortion doctors was gunned down Sunday in his Kansas church as he handed out programs for Sunday services, officials said.

Dr. George Tiller, 67, one of only three U.S. doctors who performed late-term abortions, was killed just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was an usher.

His wife, Jeanne, was in the choir loft when her husband was slain by a single shot in the church foyer, said Wichita Police Deputy Chief Tom Stolz.

The shooter, a 51-year-old white male, brandished his gun at two other ushers who tried to stop him and fled by car but was captured hours later.

The gunman is expected to be charged Monday.

“We feel this is an act of an isolated individual,” said Stolz, though he said the investigation was still in the “infancy stages.”

He said cops were looking at internet postings from the shooter.

The Tillers were members of the congregation for 25 years.

They had extra security at home and drove in an armored car. There was no security at the church, even though anti-abortion protesters had previously targeted the sanctuary for sidewalk demonstrations.

In a statement, Tiller’s wife and four children called the shooting “an unspeakable tragedy for all of us.”

“This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace,” the family said.

Parisioner Adam Watkins, 20, said the pop he heard at the start of services didn’t seem too important.

“We just thought a child had come in with a balloon and it had popped,” Watkins said.

But then an usher came to get Jeanne Tiller. “When she got to the back doors, we heard her scream, and so we knew something bad had happened,” Watkins said.

President Obama said in a statement that he was “shocked and outraged.”

“However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence,” Obama said.

The slaying came on the sixth anniversary of the capture of right wing radical Eric Rudolph, who planted bombs at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and two abortion clinics. [NYDN]

Related articles by Zemanta

• Abortion Doctor Shot Dead Outside Church (news.sky.com)
• Doctor who performed abortions shot to death (cnn.com)
• Abortion doctor shot to death in Kansas (cnn.com)
• Abortion doctor shot to death in Kansas (cnn.com)
• Kansas Doctor, Abortion Provider, Assassinated in Church (dailykos.com)

• HOT LINKS MADONNA WARNS JESUS ABOUT LINDSAY LOHAN,NOTORIOUS PRECIOUS GABOUREY SIBIDE WEIGHT LOSS OFFER, VOGUE THINKS DIDDY'S CASSIE IS FAITH & JLO,
• OUR FAMILY WEDDING NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS MOVIE PREMIERE PHOTOS
• LADY GAGA FEAT. BEYONCE TELEPHONE MUSIC VIDEO
• HOT LINKS LINDSAY LOHAN E-TRADE LAWSUIT, GABOUREY WANTS GERARD BUTLER THREESOME,PUFFY NOTORIOUS B.I.G. TRIBUTE, STACEY DASH SEX LIFE
• COREY HAIM DEAD AT 38