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Two of three Kansas City-area shooting victims were grandfather, grandson

Mindy Corporon is the mother of one victim killed by a gunman at a Kansas City-area Jewish community center and the daughter of another
Mother reflects on son, dad killed near Kansas City 02:34

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A well-known white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader attacked a Jewish community center and an assisted care facility near Kansas City Sunday, killing three people, including a grandfather and a grandson.

Authorities declined to release the victims' names pending notification of their relatives. However, the family of the first two victims released a statement identifying them as Dr. William Lewis Corporon, who died at the scene, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, who died at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

They were both Christian. The family thanked the church and others for their support.

According to the statement released by the family, Corporon leaves behind a wife of 49 years. He practiced family medicine in Oklahoma from 1976 until 2003, reports CBS affiliate KCTV in Kansas City. Corporon and his wife moved to the Kansas City area to be closer to their grandchildren.

Kansas City shooting suspect preached white supremacist message 01:57
Reat Griffin Underwood was a freshman at Blue Valley High School. Though only fourteen, he was already an Eagle Scout, and "loved spending time camping and hunting with his grandfather, father, and brother, according to the family statement.

He participated in debate, theatre and "had a beautiful voice." They were both members of the Methodist Church. According to a hospital spokesperson, the family said Reat and his grandfather were at the community center so the teen could try out for KC SuperStar, a singing competition for high school students.

Reat Underwood was a freshman at Blue Valley High School.

Underwood's mother and Corporon's daughter, Mindy Corporon, spoke at Sunday night's interfaith vigil at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church.

"I'm in shock but I want you to know that I appreciate all of you being here...I want you to know that I came upon the scene very, very quickly. I was with police and an ambulance and I knew immediately that they were in heaven and I know that they're in heaven together," she said.

The mother and daughter told listeners that she was the last person in her family who saw both victims and she takes solace in the fact that she got to tell them both that she loved them. Despite the horrible tragedy, she told those in attendance to take this moment, but keep pushing on.

"We were in life, we were having life. And I want you all to know that we're going to have more life and I want you all to have more life and just know that he'll (Reat) be remembered and my dad will be remembered," Mindy Corporon said to a sobbing group in attendance at the church, according to KCTV.

The two attended the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood. Prayers were held during the church's evening Palm Sunday service.

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