Two mosques warned authorities about Joshua Cummings, a vet who had converted to Islam and had radicalized to a point it bothered the muslim community

Homeland Security and FBI had been warned months before killer fatally shot transit officer 

Vet Joshua Cummings, 37, killed Scott Von Lanken, 56, a transit cop Tuesday in Denver, CO 

Cummings who  was arrested just 20 minutes after the murder is a muslim convert, dangerously radicalized he was kicked out of mosques in Austin, Texas and Denver, Colorado

The concerned mosque leaders informed the FBI and Homeland Security that the alleged killer seemed ‘seems pretty advanced in his path of radicalization’ and rebuked a speaker on being too ‘soft’ on Sharia law 

Cummings also is alleged to have quoted Quran verse about ‘kill[ing] his entire community’

The letter,  pointed out that his idea were wrong and of grave concern

Security  footage helped police identify and arrest Cummings just 20 minutes later, carrying Islamic writings and a loaded 9mm pistol

Cummings is being held without bond, was arraigned today and formally advised of a first-degree murder charge naming him in execution style killing of RTD officer, Von Lanken

Pastor and Transit officer, Scott Von Lanken [photo] was shot and killed, Tuesday by Joshua Cummings. Homeland and FBI had been warned earlier about the aggressive radicalized posture of the alleged killer

Vet Joshua Cummings, showed alarming signs of radicalization in recent times

Concerned Muslim leaders in Colorado warned federal law enforcement officials that Joshua Cummings, the accused shooter of an RTD contract security officer, was “pretty advanced on his path of radicalization” and was “not listening to reason.”
Investigators believe Cummings, 37, targeted RTD security officer Scott Von Lanken in what is being described as an execution-style killing.
Von Lanken, 56, was shot just after 11 p.m. Tuesday one block from Union Station, in the Denver, Colorado police said.
Joshua Cummings, 37, showed such alarming signs of ‘radicalization’ that members of not one, but two different mosques expelled him and the leadership went as far as reporting his ‘unreasonable’ radicalization to both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
Cummings, was arrested Tuesday in Denver, but not before he allegedly shot and killed Von Lanken, a pastor who was formerly a police officer. Von Lanken now worked as a security contractor for the city’s Regional Transportation District.
Cummings was reportedly kicked out of a Texas mosque that relayed his concerning behavior to the FBI before the leader of another mosque in Denver wrote a letter to Homeland Security.

Investigators interviewed the suspect in December after members of a Denver-area mosque reported concerns about him to federal authorities,  a law enforcement source, who spoke anonymously, said.
A leader at the 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, according to a redacted copy of the email released Thursday by Qusair Mohamed bhai, an attorney for the mosque.
‘He seems pretty advanced in his path of radicalization,’ the mosque leader wrote.
‘He also feels that it okay to fight now (not jihad/struggle,but actually fight), here to establish the rule of Islam. He was also quoting a verse from the Quran (2:54) where he claimed Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) was asked to kill his entire community (wrong).’
The letter mentions that at an open house earlier in December, Joshua publicly rebuked a speaker ‘as being soft’ on Sharia law.
‘After talking to him for some time, he agreed to meet with some Imams to clarify his thoughts,’ the person wrote: ‘I am hoping to arrange a meeting of one of the stronger/more knowledgeable Imams with him to see if he can be mellowed a bit. But I doubt it would help. He is not listening to reason.’
The writer attached photos and a video of the man.

Mohamed bhai said the Denver-area mosque’s report to the Department of Homeland Security highlighted an ongoing working relationship between law enforcement and the region’s Muslim community.
Federal law enforcement ‘took this alert very seriously,’ he said, but did not know what actions were taken after the report.
The FBI declined to comment and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Before the Denver report, members of a Texas mosque reported concerning behavior by Cummings to the FBI, the law enforcement official said.

Von Lanken was talking to two women near Union Station on Tuesday night as they caught a late night train home and asked him about the different routes.
Cummings allegedly came up from behind, stuck a handgun to the officer’s neck and fired, in what Barb Archer of the Denver PD’s Major Crimes Division called a ‘completely unprovoked [attack]’.
The transit officer apparently, was speaking to the women who were seeking information, when a man approached the victim from behind, pointed a gun to his neck and said: “Do as I tell you to,”  then the shot went off. Von Lanken fell and the suspect fled on foot, Archer said.

Cummings [photo with two of his martial arts students] opened a jujitsu academy in Texas. Before leaving Pampas TX, he told his friend Timothy he felt marginalized being a Muslim and wanted to move to Colorado

Von Lanken, a security officer who struggled to find work as a pastor, died on his way to the hospital.  Security camera footage helped police find and arrest Cummings just 20 minutes later.
Denver police have not revealed a possible motive for the shooting or commented on how his alleged radicalization may have played a role in the shooting.
Suspect in security guard’s murder called a ‘radical Muslim’.
Cummings, whose social-media accounts feature posts critical of law enforcement and Christianity while praising the Muslim faith, had jihadist material in his backpack at the time of his capture and spoke to officers in an Arabic-sounding language.
It raises the question, did authorities miss the early warning signs a homegrown terrorist?

Von Lanken, seen with his wife {right] was married and had two daughters. The security officer who struggled to find work as a pastor. He was shot and killed in an ‘unprovoked’ attack on Tuesday night

Officials have said they were looking into whether Von Lanken, who was armed and wearing a dark blue uniform similar to those worn by police, could have been targeted because he was a member of law enforcement.
Cummings had social media posts that included both messages hostile to and supportive of law enforcement.
Last July, he tweeted that an Arizona police officer accused of brutality should be put to death for treason, but he published a post in September 2015 in support of police and the military in response to the murder of a police officer in his home.
Cummings is being held without bond on suspicion of murder and hasn’t been charged. He is expected to make his first court appearance Friday morning. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer yet.
Born in Pampas, Texas, the one time army sergeant at one point stationed in Germany. He opened a martial arts academy when he returned to his hometown in 2015, teaching jujitsu.
Cummings’ friend Timothy told KDVR he ran into his childhood friend, who appeared strung out, a few months ago. Cummings told him he was moving to Colorado because he felt marginalized and discrimination being he was a Muslim. He believed people were trying to get him to leave Austin, Texas.
Cummings did move to Colorado with his wife who is now being questioned by investigators.
Cummings made his first court appearance in Denver today. He has now been formally advised of a first-degree murder charge naming him in the execution-style slaying of RTD security officer Scott Von Lanken.