Dr. George Tiller 1941-2009
Dr. George Tiller, one of the few U.S. physicians to perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed at his church on Sunday morning. According to attorney Dan Monnat, the 67-year-old died after being shot outside the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas at 10:00 a.m. on May 31, 2009. The doctor was serving as an usher and his wife was singing in the choir at the time of the shooting.
Police were searching for a 1993 powder-blue Ford Taurus that is registered in the Kansas City suburb of Merriam, Kansas. According to Wichita police spokesman Gordon Bassham, several witnesses saw the killer speeding away from the crime scene, and provided a license number and description of the vehicle. The plate was reportedly a Kansas State University vanity plate.
A suspect was taken into custody at 2:00 p.m. central time in Gardner, Kansas, according to Eyewitness 12, a Kansas City news source.
The prominent advocate for abortion rights and his women’s clinic have been the site of protests for the past two decades. In 1985 his clinic was bombed and in 1993 he was shot in both arms by protester Rachelle ‘Shelley’ Shannon of Grants Pass, Oregon. She received an 11-year prison sentence – see her photo below.
The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue issued a statement denouncing the shooting. Their president Troy Newman said, “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.”
In 1991, Operation Rescue organized what they dubbed the Summer of Mercy protests. They drew thousands of activists to Wichita for demonstrations that resulted in mass arrests for civil disobedience.
See video below. The first is breaking news regarding the murder. The second shows the coroner’s office bringing the body out of the church.