Husband of woman shot at Kansas Jewish site sues gun sellers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The husband of one of the three people killed by a white supremacist at two Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City has sued over the sale of the shotguns used in the April 2014 attack.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court by Jim LaManno, names Wal-Mart and several other entities, The Kansas City Star reported.

Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., 75, of Aurora was sentenced to death last year for the shooting that killed LaManno's wife, Terri, 53, at the Village Shalom retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas. William Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood, were killed at the nearby Jewish Community Center.

The victims' family and friends gathered at the Jewish center Tuesday to dedicate a memorial, part of a weeklong series of events meant to foster kindness and interfaith dialogue.

The memorial includes a sculpture attached to an outside wall of the center, featuring three waves of intertwined steel strands that cast different reflections as the sun moves. The theme, "Ripples," is meant to reflect how the victims' lives affected others and that all people are interconnected. The memorial also includes a plaque with pictures of the three victims.

"Hate has no place here," Ace Allen, board chairman of the center, told the nearly 80 people at Tuesday's ceremony. "We honor them by doing the opposite of destroying, by building, by creating."

Mindy Corporon, mother of one victim and the daughter of another, read from a journal entry that recalled the tragedy as a "loud explosion that rocked our world. As we pick ourselves up from the rubble, we look for survivors like us. Here we stand, walk and pray. But not alone. Together."

Jim LaManno's lawsuit alleges Miller, who was a felon and prohibited from purchasing guns, used two weapons that were purchased by friend John Mark Reidle: one at a gun show and the other at Wal-Mart.

Reidle, also of Aurora, was sentenced earlier this year to five years of probation for falsely claiming he was buying one of the shotguns for himself on a federal form that was filled out at a Missouri Wal-Mart just days before the shooting. Miller claimed the gun was a present for his son and asked Reidle to fill out the form, according to the plea agreement. Reidle told investigators Miller asked for help with the purchase because he didn't have any identification with him.

Wal-Mart didn't respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment.

The suit also said Reidle and Miller attended a Springfield gun show in October 2013, where Reidle bought one or more firearms. Based on the men's remarks and behavior, the suit states, employees at Friendly Firearms LLC "knew, had reason to know, or recklessly failed to know that Miller was not lawfully entitled to purchase or possess a firearm."

The phone number for Friendly Firearms rang unanswered Tuesday.

Miller has said it was his duty to stop genocide against the white race. None of the victims was Jewish.

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com