Jewish center gunman suspect could face death penalty

Robin Nelson/ZUMAPRESS.com Frazier Glenn Miller pictured during his time as leader of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1985.

The 73-year-old gunman who shouted “Heil Hitler” and killed three at a Jewish center in Kansas on Sunday is a longtime white supremacist who was once the subject of a nationwide manhunt for operating a paramilitary camp.

Frazier Glenn Cross — who The Associated Press identified as the man arrested after the Passover eve shooting spree — was a former “grand dragon” of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan who tried to run for office twice on a white power platform.

Cross was arrested after two attacks at the Jewish Community Campus of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park, Kan., and the nearby Village Shalom senior living facility.

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Frazier Glenn Miller speaks on television during his tenure as leader of the White Patriot Party.

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Miller wrote a disturbing autobiography, ‘A White Man Speaks Out,’ in 1999.

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Frazier Glenn Miller, at left speaking on television, wrote a disturbing autobiography, ‘A White Man Speaks Out,’ in 1999.

Two of his victims — Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood — were Methodists.

Corporon’s son, Will, told the Daily News on Sunday that his father was taking Reat to an “American Idol”-like talent competition when the gunman “ambushed” them in the parking lot.

Courtesy of Will Corporon Reat Griffin Underwood (right) was planning to compete at a talent competition at the center before he was killed with his grandfather, Dr. William Lewis Corporon (left), on Sunday.

The gunman then went to the senior home, where he fatally shot an elderly woman. The victim had not yet been identified on Monday.

Police said Cross, of Aurora, Mo., fired at two others during the rampage, but missed. He was cuffed outside a nearby elementary school, where he hurled anti-Semitic slurs as cops led him away, the Kansas City Star reported.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images A police car is seen at the entrance of the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan., after three were killed when a gunman went on a shooting spree on Sunday. Orlin Wagner/AP A Kansas state trooper controls traffic at the entrance of the Jewish Community Center after reports of a shooting in Overland Park, Kan., on Sunday. AP Authorities respond to the Jewish Community Center after a shooting in Overland Park, Kan. TAMMY LJUNGBLAD/MCT /Landov People gathered to mourn the victims of the shooting at the Jewish Community Center and Village Shalom during a vigil at St. Thomas The Apostle Episcopal Church in Overland Park, Kan., on Sunday night.

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He was expected to be in court on Tuesday morning.

Cross — who is better known as hate-monger Frazier Glenn Miller — led his white supremacist group into the 1980s before forming another, the White Patriot Party, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

TAMMY LJUNGBLAD/MCT /Landov Mindy Corporon (right), mother of 14-year-old Reat Underwood and daughter of Dr. William Lewis Corporon, who were both killed during a shooting at a Jewish center in Kansas.

A nationwide manhunt for Miller was launched in 1987, when he violated the terms of his bond while appealing a North Carolina conviction for operating a paramilitary group.

But authorities soon found him with three other men in a Missouri mobile home filled with a cache of automatic weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition and hand grenades.

KCTV Frazier Glenn Cross, also known as Frazier Glenn Miller, is hauled away after allegedly going on a shooting rampage that killed three people.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Miller served any time behind bars after he was caught.

Miller — who wrote a disturbing autobiography “A White Man Speaks Out” in 1999 about his lifelong involvement with white supremacist groups — even tried running for the U.S. House in 2006 and the U.S. Senate in 2010, but failed both times.

Courtesy of Will Corporon Reat Griffin Underwood, 14, was an active member of the community, serving with the Boy Scouts of America and often volunteering with his local church. Dr. William Lewis Corporon, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood — who were Methodists — were two of three people killed by a white supremacist at a Jewish center outside Kansas City on Sunday. Courtesy of Will Corporon Reat Griffin Underwood, 14, had just arrived at the Jewish Community Campus of Greater Kansas City with his grandfather when the they were shot and killed by the gunman.

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The attacks left the small Kansas City suburb shaken.

Friends of the teen victim, a freshman at Blue Valley High School, remembered him as a friendly spirit who often volunteered at the Church of Resurrection.

“He was just a kind spirit. So much talent every day that he showed us all and the smile he gave us every day and his devotion to others. And his church,” family friend Samuel Cordes said during a vigil on Sunday night, according to WDAF-TV.

“The people he interacted with, he touched the hearts of many.”

The slain teen’s mother, Mindy Corporon, thanked the group of hundreds for their support.

“I am the daughter of the gentleman who was killed and I am the mother of the son who was killed,” she told the group. “We all grieve in different ways and I just wanted to tell people, ‘Thank you.’”

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback vowed to bring justice to those found responsible for the senseless killings.

“My heart and prayers are with all those who were affected by today’s events,” Brownback said in a statement. “We will pursue justice aggressively for these victims and criminal charges against the perpetrator or perpetrators to the full extent of the law.”

With News Wire Services

jkemp@nydailynews.com

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