Obama: Shooting of Anti-Abortion Activist 'Deplorable'
President Obama condemned the killing of an anti-abortion activist on Sunday as some 200 people gathered for a vigil near the site where the man was shot.
In a two-sentence statement released by the White House, Obama called last week's shooting "deplorable" and said "whichever side of a public debate you're on, violence is never the right answer."
According to reports, James Pouillon, 63, was killed Friday morning while standing with anti-abortion displays across the street from a high school in Owosso, Mich., about 70 miles northwest of Detroit.
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Authorities said Harlan James Drake, 33, pulled up to Pouillon in a truck and opened fire because he didn't like that the activist carried a sign with graphic images of a fetus in front of students.
Drake later went on to kill 61-year-old gravel pit owner Mike Fuoss, apparently for a different reason, and was caught before he could strike a third time.
"The defendant had ill will toward these three individuals - not for the same reason necessarily, but had a grudge," said Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry, according to The Associate Press.
On Sunday, about 200 people gathered in front of Owosso High School to sing, pray and share stories about Pouillon, who was well known in the town of 15,000 for his frequent one-man demonstrations outside area schools and city hall.
Pouillon was also honored during a prayer vigil at the Capitol that he reportedly had planned to attend.
