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UPDATED: Victims, Suspect Identified In Overland Park Shootings

Laura Spencer
/
KCUR

Updated 10:47 a.m.:

Frazier Glenn Cross, the suspect in Sunday's shootings, is being held at the Johnson County Detention Center without bond. Kristi Bergeron, of the District Attorney's Office in Johnson County said he will not be arraigned Monday.

He will face both federal and state charges.

Updated 10:36 a.m.:

The Children's Center for the Visually Impaired released this statement:

"The Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired and the Kansas City community has experienced a great loss. Terri LaManno, occupational therapist at CCVI for eight years, was a victim of the senseless shooting yesterday at Village Shalom. Our deepest sympathies go out to Terri’s husband, Jim, and their two children, Alissa and Gian. Terri was a gracious, generous, skilled, and deeply caring individual who made a great difference in the lives of so many children and their families with whom she worked at CCVI. She will forever be missed by all of us in the CCVI family."

Updated 10:24 a.m.:

The third victim in Sunday's shootings has been identified. As KSHB.com reports, Terri LaManno was an occupational therapist with the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired. LaManno was shot in the parking lot of Village Shalom retirement center.

Updated 3:45 a.m.:

A suspect in Sunday's shootings at the Jewish Community Center and Village Shalom retirement home was identified as Frazier Glenn Cross Jr. in documents filed with the Johnson County Sheriff. Cross is white and 73 years old. He also goes by the name Frazier Glenn Miller, according to authorities.

Initially, local law enforcement hesitated to call the shootings hate crimes, but dozens of reports from around the globe are now tying Frazier to white supremacist and anti-semitic activities.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that tracks hate crimes, released a statementSunday night saying  Cross had been a "raging anti-Semite" for years who has  posted extensively on an anti-Semitic website. Also, he was a "grand dragon" of the Carolina Knights of the KKK, which he founded and ran, according to the center.

Cross is in custody in the Johnson County Detention Facility and is expected to appear in Johnson County Circuit Court Monday.

Overland Park police have tentatively scheduled a mid-morning press conference for Monday, as well. Read more of the story here.

Updated Sunday, 8:25 p.m.:

Some news outlets are reporting the names of two of the victims of Sunday's shootings at Jewish facilities in Johnson County, Kan.

A statement released on behalf of the families identifies the two male victims as Dr. Lewis William Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood.

The name of the third victim, a woman, has not yet been released.

Updated Sunday, 5:28 p.m.:

Three people were killed and one man is in custody after a shooting spree at two Jewish facilities in Johnson County, Kan. today.

Overland Park police chief John Douglass confirmed the deaths at a press conference this evening.

Shots were fired at a total of five people. Two of the victims were shot at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan. One died at the scene, the other succumbed to wounds at a nearby hospital. Both the victims were male. The third fatality was a female. She was shot at the Village Shalom Retirement and Assisted living facility, also in Overland Park, Kan.

The suspect being held at the Johnson County Detention facility is a white man in his 70s, who is not from Kansas. Douglass wouldn’t say whether the man is local, or if he’d been seen near the Jewish Community Center. The suspect was apprehended more than an hour after the shootings.

He also declined to comment on statements the suspect allegedly made when taken into custody. It’s been widely reported that he said, “Heil Hitler” as he was taken into custody.

Douglass says that three hours into the investigation, it is too early to characterize the shootings as a hate crime, though he noted two Jewish facilities were targeted.

A shotgun was used in the first shooting, says Douglass. Douglass said a hand gun was involved, and there is a chance the shooter had an assault weapon.  

In addition to sending units out to other Jewish facilities in the region, Overland Park police are also "stepping up patrolling" at the Islamic Center of Johnson County (ICJC). The police chief reportedly called shortly after the shootings and stated it was "out of an abundance of caution."

The original post begins here:

A male suspect is in custody this afternoon after he allegedly opened fire at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City (JCC) and Village Shalom senior living facility in Overland Park, Kan. Three people are confirmed dead.

According to the Associated Press, a 15-year-old boy remains in critical condition at Overland Park Medical Center.

Additional officers have reportedly been sent to guard other Jewish facilities in the metro area as a precaution.

Overland Park police say they received "multiple calls regarding a shooting" in the parking lot at the JCC about 1 p.m., during a high level of activity. As The Kansas City Star reports:

The gunfire at the west side of the campus came as hundreds of high school singers from across the metro area were expected to audition for the KC SuperStar contest and actors were rehearsing for a production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

More calls to the police reported a shooting at nearby Village Shalom. Both the JCC and Village Shalom were locked down while police hunted for the shooter.

A man was apprehended about 2:45 p.m. at an elementary school near 123rd Street and Lamar Avenue. The suspect reportedly was making anti-Semitic comments as he was taken away in handcuffs.

The Overland Park Police Department will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. 

Kansas City is known for its style of jazz, influenced by the blues, as the home of Walt Disney’s first animation studio and the headquarters of Hallmark Cards. As one of KCUR’s arts reporters, I want people here to know a wide range of arts and culture stories from across the metropolitan area. I take listeners behind the scenes and introduce them to emerging artists and organizations, as well as keep up with established institutions. Send me an email at lauras@kcur.org or follow me on Twitter @lauraspencer.
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