A man in his 70s who was arrested after three people were shot dead at a Jewish community centre and home for the elderly has been identified as a white supremacist who was once the subject of a US-wide manhunt.
Two males were killed at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Kansas City and a female was killed at Village Shalom several streets away. The suspect also shot at two other people but missed.
Frazier Glenn Cross was arrested at an elementary school in the area, and local television channel KSHB said he was heard shouting "Heil Hitler" as he was taken away.
He was booked into Johnson County jail on a charge of first-degree murder.
Cross - who also uses the name Frazier Glenn Miller - ran for public office in 2006 and 2010 on a white power platform.
Overland Park police Chief John Douglass refused to confirm the suspect's identity but said he had made several statements to police.
"We are investigating it as a hate crime" he said. "We're investigating it as a criminal act. We haven't ruled out anything".
The Southern Poverty Law Centre, which tracks hate groups, said Cross founded the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and was its "grand dragon" in the 1980s.
The Centre previously sued him for operating an illegal paramilitary organisation and using intimidation tactics against black people. He later founded another white supremacist group, the White Patriot Party.
Nationwide US manhunt
An Army veteran and retired truck driver, Cross was the subject of a nationwide manhunt in 1987 after he violated the terms of his bond while appealing a North Carolina conviction for operating a paramilitary camp.
The first two victims of the shootings, both Christians, were identified by their family as Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood (14).
"We take comfort knowing they are together in heaven" the family said.
Hospital spokeswoman Rebecca Sturtevant said family members said Mr. Corporon took his grandson to the community centre so that the boy could take part in a singing competition.
A shotgun was used in the attacks and authorities are trying to establish if a handgun and assault rifle were also used. US President Barack Obama said the shootings were "heartbreaking".
