voiceofreason
Senior News Editor since 2011
http://kdvr.com/2017/02/01/rtd-cont...-was-killed-was-former-pastor-police-officer/
RTD contract security officer who was killed was former pastor, police officer
Posted 4:26 pm, February 1, 2017
DENVER — The uniformed RTD contract security officer who was shot and killed in Lower Downtown late Tuesday night was a former pastor and police officer.
Scott Von Lanken, 56, was married and has two daughters. Von Lanken, of Loveland, was a former pastor at a church in Loveland.
The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. at 16th and Wynkoop streets on Union Station Plaza, one block from Union Station, the Denver Police Department said.
“This is an incredibly sad day for us, and on behalf of the entire RTD family I extend my prayers and express my sincere condolences to the officer’s family, friends and loved ones,” RTD general manager and CEO Dave Genova said in a statement.
Police identified the suspect as 37-year-old Joshua Cummings. He was in jail Wednesday.
Police said at a news conference Wednesday morning that two women were asking the armed security officer about light rail routes when a man approached from behind, pointed a gun at the officer’s neck and fired.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...that-accused-rtd-shooter-was-very-radicalized
Denver Muslims warned federal authorities in Dec. that accused RTD shooter was 'very radicalized'
12:48 PM, Feb 2, 2017
11:45 PM, Feb 2, 2017
DENVER – The Denver Muslim community raised flags to federal agents in late December that the suspect in the Tuesday night shooting death of a transit security officer was “very radicalized,” according to an email obtained by Denver7.
Texas native Joshua Cummings, 37, is accused of shooting and killing Regional Transportation District security officer Scott Von Lanken Tuesday night near Union Station in downtown Denver.
Muslim leaders in Denver on Thursday told Denver7 Cummings had attended an event at an area mosque on Dec. 24 and another open house at the mosque earlier that month, and that several others at the meetings were concerned about his talk and behavior.
They were concerned enough that they sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that same day tipping federal agents off about Cummings’ behavior.
The letter, which redacts the name of the sender and the mosque at which the event occurred, says that leaders had organized a lunch for reverts, who are converts to Islam.
“One person who attended seems to be very radicalized,” the letter states.
Though the letter’s writer did not know Cummings’ last name, it refers to a man named Joshua from Pampa, Texas. It says that Cummings had no identification on him and declined to sign up on a registration list, “saying he did not trust the authorities.”
Homeland Security confirmed to Denver7 it received the email and promptly acted.
“DHS did receive the e-mail in question from a community member in Denver. It was immediately referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for review.”
The letter says that Cummings told authorities he had reverted “three years or so” back and implied his wife was Muslim as well.
RTD contract security officer who was killed was former pastor, police officer
Posted 4:26 pm, February 1, 2017
DENVER — The uniformed RTD contract security officer who was shot and killed in Lower Downtown late Tuesday night was a former pastor and police officer.
Scott Von Lanken, 56, was married and has two daughters. Von Lanken, of Loveland, was a former pastor at a church in Loveland.
The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. at 16th and Wynkoop streets on Union Station Plaza, one block from Union Station, the Denver Police Department said.
“This is an incredibly sad day for us, and on behalf of the entire RTD family I extend my prayers and express my sincere condolences to the officer’s family, friends and loved ones,” RTD general manager and CEO Dave Genova said in a statement.
Police identified the suspect as 37-year-old Joshua Cummings. He was in jail Wednesday.
Police said at a news conference Wednesday morning that two women were asking the armed security officer about light rail routes when a man approached from behind, pointed a gun at the officer’s neck and fired.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...that-accused-rtd-shooter-was-very-radicalized
Denver Muslims warned federal authorities in Dec. that accused RTD shooter was 'very radicalized'
12:48 PM, Feb 2, 2017
11:45 PM, Feb 2, 2017
DENVER – The Denver Muslim community raised flags to federal agents in late December that the suspect in the Tuesday night shooting death of a transit security officer was “very radicalized,” according to an email obtained by Denver7.
Texas native Joshua Cummings, 37, is accused of shooting and killing Regional Transportation District security officer Scott Von Lanken Tuesday night near Union Station in downtown Denver.
Muslim leaders in Denver on Thursday told Denver7 Cummings had attended an event at an area mosque on Dec. 24 and another open house at the mosque earlier that month, and that several others at the meetings were concerned about his talk and behavior.
They were concerned enough that they sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that same day tipping federal agents off about Cummings’ behavior.
The letter, which redacts the name of the sender and the mosque at which the event occurred, says that leaders had organized a lunch for reverts, who are converts to Islam.
“One person who attended seems to be very radicalized,” the letter states.
Though the letter’s writer did not know Cummings’ last name, it refers to a man named Joshua from Pampa, Texas. It says that Cummings had no identification on him and declined to sign up on a registration list, “saying he did not trust the authorities.”
Homeland Security confirmed to Denver7 it received the email and promptly acted.
“DHS did receive the e-mail in question from a community member in Denver. It was immediately referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for review.”
The letter says that Cummings told authorities he had reverted “three years or so” back and implied his wife was Muslim as well.