Sunday evening and no motive for the killing was immediately known , but Wichita police Detective Tom Stoltz told reporters : `` We think we have the right person arrested . '' `` We will investigate this suspect to the Nth degree -- his history , his family , his associates -- and we are just in the beginning stages of that , '' Stoltz said . See what people are saying about Dr. Tiller 's murder '' Tiller 's slaying drew condemnation from supporters , from some of those who tried to shut down his practice and from President Obama , who just two weeks ago urged Americans to seek `` common ground '' on the issue of abortion . `` However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion , they can not be resolved by heinous acts of violence , '' Obama said in a statement issued by the White House . The shooting prompted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to direct federal marshals to `` offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation , '' according to a statement from the Department of Justice . Tiller had been practicing medicine
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Dr. George Tiller , whose Kansas women 's clinic frequently took center stage in the U.S. debate over abortion , was shot and killed while serving as an usher at his Wichita church Sunday morning , police said . Dr. George Tiller was one of the few U.S. physicians that performed late-term abortions . Wichita police said a 51-year-old man from the Kansas City , Kansas , area was in custody in connection with the slaying of Tiller , who was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions . The killing , which came about 16 years after Tiller survived a shooting outside his Wichita clinic , took place shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday at Reformation Lutheran Church . Officers found the 67-year-old dead in the foyer , police said . Witnesses provided a description of the car and a license number of the killer 's getaway vehicle , Wichita police spokesman Gordon Bassham said . Police stopped a blue Ford Taurus matching the description about three hours later in Gardner , about 30 miles southwest of Kansas City , and took the driver into custody . No charges had been filed