Teh interesting (non-PHL-related) news stub thread

[Twin-Skies]

Abortion doctor gunned down in church

With one bullet, a gunman ended the life and the controversial career of abortion doctor George Tiller, killing him as he stood in the foyer of his church Sunday.

Today, a 51-year-old Johnson County man could be charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting of Tiller, who had been shot before by an anti-abortion foe.

The crime has drawn condemnation and outrage from the president and stirred strong emotions across the nation.

Tiller, 67, was shot once just after 10 a.m. Sunday as he stood in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church, 7601 E. 13th St., where he was serving as an usher. The gunman threatened to shoot two men who tried to apprehend him.

Wichita police said that the suspect was arrested without incident on I-35 in Johnson County about three hours after the shooting, following a statewide broadcast describing the suspect and his car.

Although Wichita police would not name the suspect, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office identified him as Scott P. Roeder, according to the Associated Press.

Wichita police said it appeared that the suspect had acted alone but that they are investigating whether he had any connection to anti-abortion groups.

Police on Sunday said they expected the man to be charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

In a news conference at Wichita City Hall, Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said police will "investigate this suspect to the Nth degree, his history, his family, his associates, and we're just in the beginning stages of that."

Tiller had long been a focal point of protests by abortion opponents because his clinic, Women's Health Care Services, 5107 E. Kellogg, is one of a few in the country where late-term abortions are performed.

He was shot and wounded in both arms at his clinic in 1993.

Sunday's shooting stoked emotional debate on the Internet between supporters of abortion rights and abortion opponents.

Without elaborating, Stolz said investigators will look into the Internet comments because the discussion could bear on public safety.

Tiller's family issued a statement through Wichita lawyers Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson:

"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients.

"This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."

I find it sadly ironic that the very movement that is supposed to be all for the sanctity of life is also just as willing to take a life of an innocent man.