Radicalized American Muslim Accused of Murdering Denver Officer

A man suspected of murdering a Denver security officer is said to have been an Islamic extremist.
 
Thirty-seven-year-old Joshua Cummings is accused of shooting security officer Scott Von Lanken in cold blood Tuesday night.

Cummings was heading to court Friday.

Local Muslims say Cummings was radicalized soon after converting to Islam.

Members of several mosques he attended even warned police that an attack might be brewing.

A leader at a Denver mosque emailed the Department of Homeland Security to say a man identifying himself only as a Muslim convert named Joshua, from Pampa, Texas, made worrisome statements during a Dec. 24 lunch and at an earlier event.  

"He seems pretty advanced in his path of radicalization," the mosque leader wrote.

Before the Denver report, members of a Texas mosque reported concerning behavior by Cummings to the FBI, a law enforcement official said.

Cummings - who served in the Army more than a decade ago but never saw combat - is suspected of walking up behind Von Lanken on a downtown corner Tuesday night as he spoke to two women, putting a gun to his neck and shooting him.