US abortion doctor shot dead in church

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-01 11:11

Mahoney said that while it was likely Tiller's killing was motivated by anti-abortion beliefs, the movement did not support violence. Anti-abortion leaders will hold a news conference in front of the US Supreme Court at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday to discuss the matter.

Flowers are seen in front of the Women's Health Care Services abortion clinic and serve as a memorial to Dr. George Tiller's death in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. George Tiller, a late term abortion doctor, was gunned down inside the foyer at the Reformation Lutheran Church during morning church services. [Agencies]

Tiller was one of only a few physicians in the United States willing to perform late-term abortions, those performed after the 20th week of gestation when a fetus potentially could survive outside the womb and legal under certain conditions.

Previous Attacks

Tiller's Wichita clinic had been the site of several mass protests by anti-abortion groups and was bombed in 1985. The doctor was shot in both arms by an abortion opponent in 1993.

Abortion foes celebrated earlier this year when Tiller was brought to trial on charges of illegally performing certain abortions in his Wichita clinic. But he was acquitted in March.

One anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, had been particularly outspoken against him, maintaining a "Tiller Watch" on its website. But the group on Sunday denounced "vigilantism" and said it was praying for Tiller's family.

Police declined to name the suspect in Sunday's shooting, saying only that he was captured a few hours after the killing about 180 miles north of Wichita, near Kansas City. Police said he was a resident of Merriam, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City.

Tiller's family released a statement through its lawyers calling the killing a "unspeakable tragedy."

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

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