Investigators say it was a hate crime when a gunman opened fire at two Kansas City-area Jewish centers . But the three people he killed were Christian . That should n't affect whether authorities file hate crime charges against him , legal experts say . That 's because federal hate crime statutes criminalize offenses involving `` actual or perceived '' race , color , religion , national origin , gender , sexual orientation , gender identity or disability of any person . `` To qualify as a hate crime , all that matters is that the crime was motivated , in whole or in part , by the offender 's bias , '' CNN Legal Analyst Sunny Hostin said . `` The fact that both shootings occurred at places identifiable as Jewish , combined with his white supremacist past , plus any comments he made ... and other evidence would be more than enough to qualify this as a hate crime , '' she said . The suspect , Frazier Glenn Cross , 73 , faces charges of first-degree murder . Organizations that track hate groups describe Cross , who is also known as Frazier Glenn Miller , as a long-time white supremacist . At a news conference on Monday , Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said that investigators had `` unquestionably determined ... that this was a hate crime . '' And Barry Grissom , U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas , said federal prosecutors would be filing hate crime charges against him . `` We are in a very good place from an evidence standpoint of moving forward with this case , '' Grissom told reporters , `` and it will be presented to the grand jury in the not too distant future . '' Richard Cohen , president of the Southern Poverty Law Center , said there 's no doubt that the suspect 's anti-Semitism fueled the shooting . `` Miller , of course , targeted them because he perceived them to be Jewish . That seems pretty obvious from the site of the shootings , '' he told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer . Another indication of his mindset , Cohen said , were the words he shouted from the back of the patrol car after his arrest : `` Heil Hitler . '' If Cross is convicted of a federal hate crime , he could face life in prison . What the killings say about U.S. hate groups .
Authorities say it was a hate crime when a gunman shot at Jewish centers . The three victims of the shooting were Christian . Score: 6