Updated 16.12
POLICE IN COLORADO Springs have named the suspected gunman in a shooting that left three dead and nine people injured yesterday.
The suspect, who was taken into custody following the five-hour standoff, has been identified as 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear.
It seems that Dear is from South Carolina, according to local news reports.
The Colorado Springs Police Department have confirmed that the items brought to the scene by the suspect have now been secured.
The building has been cleared pending a crime scene investigation.
Dear’s address, in Hartsel, Colorado, about 60 miles from the crime scene,has been closed to the public by the local sheriff’s office.
Three people were killed after the gunman opened fire at the family planning center yesterday evening.
Nine people, including five police officers, were also wounded in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before the suspect surrendered 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.
thejournal_ie / SoundCloud
Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for hauling the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.
Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer.
AFP reports that terrified people fled the building and rushed into the freezing open, some crying and pleading for help.
A sheriff’s department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had been on standby, as the freezing winter evening drew in.
The shooter was armed with some kind of long weapon with a shoulder stock such as a rifle, and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.
The dead policeman was named as Garrett Swasey, 44, a University of Colorado Colorado Springs officer who was on duty at the campus and had raced to the scene of the shooting.
Targeted
The original emergency call came from within the clinic at 11.38 am (6.38 pm Irish time). It’s not yet known if Planned Parenthood was specifically targeted.
Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and critics have accused the association of selling fetal organs and body parts for profit.
Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, told CNN that she did not believe the center had been specifically targeted.
We’re very pleased that our own security systems were operating at top-notch.
“They were able to hunker down and some got out early throughout the afternoon, but those that didn’t were in a safe spot.”
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan and AFP.
Originally published 8.01am
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