George Tiller was shot and killed by Scott Roeder Sunday morning while attending church. The Wichita-based doctor was a controversial figure in the national abortion debate.
Tiller, 67, was inside Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th when witnesses say he was shot at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
Roeder, a 51-year-old Johnson County man, was arrested by Wichita Police and is being held without bail on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two other people. Roeder was seen vandalizing a Kansas City women’s health clinic called Aid for Women on two separate occasions last week, a week before Dr. Tiller was killed and a day before his murder, according to NPR news program Democracy Now!
Women’s Health Care Services at 5701 E. Kellogg, where Tiller worked, is one of the few clinics in the country where late-term abortions are performed. The clinic and its staff have endured decades of anti-abortion protests, lawsuits and illegal violence that resulted in a 1993 shooting attempt on Tiller’s life and most recently in thousands of dollars worth of vandalism.
About 400 people gathered in Old Town Square in Wichita Sunday evening to honor Tiller, founder of the state’s largest pro-choice group ProKanDo. He is the fourth doctor killed in the U.S. as a result of anti-abortion fanatics.
Keep updated on this story at kstatecollegian.com.