Mourners remember anti-abortion activist

OWOSSO, Mich., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Some 300 people turned out Wednesday to remember an anti-abortion activist who was fatally shot near the high school where he has protested for years.

Jim Pouillon's killing Friday apparently marked the first of someone protesting abortion, The New York Times reported.

"You may not have agreed with his tactics or methods," David Knox, pastor of Abba's House church, said during a service at the Owosso High School football stadium. "But you could not miss his passion."

"Amen," the crowd replied.

Relatives, friends, students and strangers who knew him Pouillon as the "sign man" showed up. They prayed, wept and sang religious songs.

Harlan J. Drake, 33, allegedly shot Pouillon across from the school because he did not like signs the 63-year-old protester held depicting graphic images of aborted fetuses.

Drake then drove across town and shot gravel pit owner Mike Fuoss, police said, and had planned to kill a third person, but officers arrested him first.