Updated: 00.35 am
AN ACTIVE SHOOTER situation has ended tonight at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the US state of Colorado, after the gunman surrendered to police just before midnight Irish time.
The following is audio of the dramatic final moments of the five-hour operation, which has ended with injuries to at least five police officers and six civilians, and the surrender of the suspected gunman.
It has been edited for brevity.
thejournal_ie / SoundCloud
Authorities had been searching for the gunman for just over five hours, with a fresh round of gunfire reported by police at around 9.15 pm Irish time.
Lieutenant Catherine Buckley had told local media she could not rule out the possibility of a second shooter, or a hostage-taking.
However, SWAT team personnel heard on police scanners reported that the shooter informed them he was alone.
Buckley said she did not know what the relevance of Planned Parenthood is to the shooting, but confirmed that the original emergency call came from within the clinic at 11.38 am (6.38 pm Irish time).
Buckley also confirmed that four police officers had been shot and wounded, and that law enforcement began exchanging gunfire with the shooter inside the Planned Parenthood building, at around 9.15 pm Irish time.
In a later update, Buckley said the gunman had brought unspecified items inside the clinic, but did not offer details.
After detaining the shooter at around 11.55 pm Irish time, SWAT personnel began an “EOD sweep” (explosive ordnance disposal) in the Planned Parenthood building.
In the moments before the suspect’s surrender, agents expressed concern that he may be equipped with an IED (improvised explosive device), but those fears have so far proved to be unfounded.
According to officers exchanging information on police scanners, around a dozen people, described as “hostages”, were made safe over the course of the night, as SWAT team personnel closed in on the gunman inside the building.
Authorities are now searching the clinic to determine whether anyone remains inside.
The area surrounding the clinic, which includes a large shopping centre, has been placed on lockdown, and nearby roads have been closed.
In response to the ongoing situation in Colorado Springs, police in New York have been deployed to protect Planned Parenthood locations in the city, as a precaution.
Planned Parenthood is America’s largest reproductive and women’s health care provider, and also performs more abortions, nationally, than any other organisation.
It has been plunged into scandal recently, after the release of a number of secretly-recorded videos which critics claim show Planned Parenthood staff negotiating fees in exchange for providing fetal tissue samples.
However, the organisation has stressed tonight that they are not certain what the motives, circumstances and target of the shooting is.
Originally published: 7.54 pm
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