United States

Published on Saturday 12 September 2009 19:47

A MAN killed an anti-abortion protester outside a US high school because he didn't like the activist holding a sign with graphic images of a foetus in front of students.

The gunman, Harlan Drake, 33, then drove to a nearby business in the Michigan town of Owosso and shot and killed another victim, police said.

Authorities believe they stopped a third murder by catching up with the gunman before he could kill again.

"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.

The shootings started at around 7:20am across the street at Owosso High School, as parents dropped off students.

James Pouillon, a well-known activist in the town, was standing across the street with a sign that pictured a chubby-cheeked baby with the word "Life" on one side and an image of an aborted foetus with the word "abortion" on the other. Pouillon, known as "the sign man" for his years of protests against abortion, was a polarising figure in Owosso.

"His dedication to his cause was unprecedented," said Tony Young, who tangled with Pouillon during protests outside his car dealership.

The shootings come a little more than three months after the killing of late-term abortion provider George Tiller at his Kansas church.

A man with a long history of anti-abortion views Scott Roeder has pleaded not guilty to the murder.