U.S.

Shooter Kills Three at Two Different Jewish Facilities Near Kansas City

A man was reportedly carried away in handcuffs shouting "Heil Hitler" after killing three people at a Jewish Community Center and a Jewish assisted-living facility near Kansas City. The shooting comes a day before the Jewish holiday of Passover. 

By Adam Chandler and Sara Morrison
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A man was reportedly carried away in handcuffs shouting "Heil Hitler" after killing three people at a Jewish Community Center and a Jewish assisted-living facility near Kansas City. Another victim of the shooting remains in critical condition.

From the report:

Overland Park Police confirmed that multiple shots were fired at the JCC center and the retirement home, and reports said that two people were killed at the JCC - which was full of teens auditioning for KC Superstar - and another at the home.  

Overland Park Fire Department spokesman Jason Rhodes said Sunday afternoon that one person of interest was in custody and a KCTV reporter claimed "a man in handcuffs at the scene was yelling about Hitler." Additional reports claimed the man was heard yelling "heil Hitler."

The shooting comes a day before the Jewish holiday of Passover, which commemorates Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt. In the story, the ancient Israelites were instructed to place lamb's blood on the doorposts of their houses so that they would avoid the plague brought on by the Angel of Death. The English name for the holiday is derived from the Angel of Death's act of passing over.

As if the blind senselessness of extremism needed more punctuating, Westboro Baptist Church folded this point of the Passover narrative into their call to picket the funerals of those killed today.

Update, 7:50 p.m.:  The identities of the victims have not been released yet, but the Kansas City Star reports that the two of the victims were a 14-year-old boy and his grandfather who attend the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood.

The alleged shooter was described as a man in his 70s with a beard. He was arrested in front of an elementary school, and smiled as he was led away by police.

Update, 9:20 p.m.: Two of the victims have been identified as Reat Griffin Underwood, a high school freshman, and his grandfather William Lewis Corporon, a doctor.

Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, though no motive was yet known.

Update, 11:45 p.m.: The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. as the man who was arrested today. Miller, 73, was once a Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.