The man who attacked the Jewish Community Center and an adjacent assisted living center in Overland Park Kansas is in custody.
Frazier Glenn Cross was arrested and booked into the Johnson County jail this evening. He's a 73-year-old southwest Missouri man with a long history of anti-Semitic and racist statements.
Smith opened fire at the center and at a nearby Jewish retirement home, shouting "Heil Hitler!" as he was arrested. He shot and killed three people with a shotgun and a handgun, and wounded at least five, one of whom, s 15 -year-old boy is still listed in critical condition.
Two of the murder victims Sunday were 14-year-old Reat Griffin Underwood and his grandfather, William Lewis Corporon. Neither, ironically, was Jewish but were members of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in nearby Leawood.The third murder victim was an elderly Jewish woman who lived in the assisted living facility. Her name hasn't been released yet. Reat Griffin Underwood and William Lewis Corporon were shot without warning while in their car in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center, and had come there with hundreds of high school singers from across the Kansas City metro area to audition for the KC SuperStar contest. Also, actors were rehearsing for a production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Nine children, and their parents along with about 10 volunteers were also at the Jewish Community Center for a weekly program for children on the autism spectrum called “Fun and Fitness with Friends.”
The entire Community center was packed with children, parents and other volunteers helping in the programs. It is simply G-d's mercy that the death toll wasn't higher.
The Pastor of the Underwood's church, the Rev. Adam Hamilton shared the news with the congregation at today's Palm Sunday Services.The lights were lowered as Hamilton asked members to pray for the family.
“Help us, oh, Lord to grieve as people of hope,” Hamilton said.
An interfaith service was held at 8 p.m. local time at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church in conjunction with Temple Israel of Greater Kansas City.
“Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered loss on this tragic day,” the Jewish Community Center said in a statement. “Our heartfelt gratitude as well to all those in Kansas City and around the world who have expressed sympathy, concern and support.”
Who was Frazier Glenn Cross? Cross, who lives in Aurora, Mo., a small town in Lawrence County, Missouri also used the name Frazier Glenn Miller.
Frazier Glenn Miller/Cross has a long history of anti-Semitic and anti-black activity. In the 1980's he formed the White Patriot Party, an offshoot of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter.
The WPP dissolved when Miller/Cross was arrested in 1987 along with three other members. He got off with a three year sentence for weapons violations and other crimes by turning rat and testifying against his companions, as well as another similar cell in Arkansas.
In 2002 he moved to Aurora, Missouri where he became involved with Alex Linder's National Socialist Vanguard News Network, and became something of a perennial candidate for public office.
In 2010, ran as an informal write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate from Missouri against Roy Blunt and attempted to buy air time on several Missouri radio stations, with ads denouncing Jews, blacks and the federal government.
Normally, political ads are considered free speech and stations are required to run them provided they meet FCC guidelines. But Miller/Cross's ads were so violent and bigoted that the Missouri Broadcasters Association asked the FCC for permission not to run them, which was only granted when the FCC ruled Miller wasn’t a bona fide candidate, since he hadn't actually filed the required paperwork.
There are monsters among us, and he was definitely one of them.
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