Assassination of George Tiller
| George Tiller | |
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George Tiller gives a consultation in 1997 in the setting of his clinic, Women's Health Care – Wichita, Kansas, which he owned and operated from 1975 until his death.
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| Location | Foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church 7601 East 13th Street Wichita, Kansas |
| Date | May 31, 2009 c. 10:00 a.m. (UTC-6) |
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Attack type
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Assassination, |
| Weapons | Handgun |
| Deaths | George Tiller, M.D. |
| Perpetrator | Scott Philip Roeder of Merriam, Kansas |
| Motive | Anti-abortion extremism |
On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas, who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions, was murdered by Scott Roeder. Tiller was killed during a Sunday morning service at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher. Tiller had previously survived an assassination attempt when a woman shot him in the arms.
Roeder was arrested within three hours of the shooting and charged with first-degree murder and related crimes two days later. In November 2009, Roeder publicly confessed to the killing, telling the Associated Press that he had shot Tiller because "preborn children's lives were in imminent danger." Roeder was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault on January 29, 2010, and sentenced on April 1, 2010, to life imprisonment without any chance of parole for 50 years.
George Tiller was shot dead on May 31, 2009, during worship services at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher. The church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Tiller was shot in the head at point blank range; he was wearing body armor, as he had been since 1998, when the FBI told him he was being targeted by anti-abortion militants. After threatening two others who tried to prevent his departure, the gunman fled in a car. Witnesses described the vehicle as a powder-blue 1993 Ford Taurus.
Calling the murder "an abhorrent act of violence", U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced,
Scott Philip Roeder (born February 25, 1958) from Merriam, Kansas, was arrested in Gardner, Kansas, 170 miles (270 km) away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting. He was charged on June 2, 2009, with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Roeder was formally charged before a Sedgwick County district judge on June 2. He said very little during the hearing, where he asked for a public defender and did not enter a plea.
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Wikipedia