Terrible tragedy struck today in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, as a man opened fire at two different Jewish Community Centers, killing three people. Witnesses report the killer yelled “Heil Hitler” as he was being taken into custody.
The police have not officially determined this was a hate crime, but the timing, targets, and his anti-Semitic remarks leaves little question about the murderer’s evil motivation.
The three victims were shot in the Kansas City, Kan., suburb of Overland Park, around 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) at a Jewish community center and a Jewish retirement home, police said.
A person of interest was in custody, officials said. He was described as a man in his 70s, with a beard, and not from Kansas.
Overland Park police officials said two men died at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City campus and one woman killed at Village Shalom, which is a retirement community that is several blocks away from the center. Two other people were shot at at the center, but unhurt, police said.
A photographer on the scene with Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB spoke with a man who said a gunman aimed at him and shot the windows out of his car. That person was not injured, the station said.
Local KSHB reporter Andres Gutierrez told MSNBC that one person was taken away in the back of a police at a nearby elementary school — and yelled an anti-Semitic remark (“Heil Hitler”) at onlookers.
I am sure everyone here will join me in praying for the victims and families of this unthinkable crime, as well as for swift justice.