A suspect is in police custody following an hours-long shooting standoff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, where at least one police officer and two civilians were killed Friday.
“The perpetrator is in custody,” Mayor John Suthers declared just after 5 p.m. Mountain time — more than five hours after an active shooter was first reported at the health-care clinic, spawning confusion that lasted through the afternoon over whether the gunman was at large or holed up at the medical facility with staff and patients.
Police were trying to determine the suspect’s identity and his motive after his capture at the clinic. They said the man was armed with a long gun and also brought into the building several “items” that could have been explosive devices.
Police described the gunman as a stocky, bearded white male wearing a trench coat.
Besides the three deaths, at least four other police officers and five civilians were injured. Authorities said those individuals were all in good condition
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs said the officer who was killed was Garrett Swasey, 44, who had been with the department for six years and responded to the initial reports of an active shooter.
President Obama was briefed on the situation, a White House official said. Local police were joined at the scene by state investigators and federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.
Health centers associated with Planned Parenthood have been the target of threats and violence because of the organization’s role in providing abortions and lobbying for reproductive rights. Abortion rights groups say threats against abortion providers rose sharply this summer in the wake of anundercover “sting” mounted by an antiabortion group that filmed one of its videos at a clinic in Denver.
At least four Planned Parenthood clinics have been targeted with arson since the videos were released. The increase in threats has led abortion rights groups to increase cooperation with local police and the FBI.
“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the brave law enforcement officers who put themselves in harm’s way in Colorado Springs,” Cecile Richards, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “We are profoundly grateful for their heroism in helping to protect all women, men and young people as they access basic health care in this country.”
Earlier, Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said in an interview on CNN that she believed all the staff members and patients of the Planned Parenthood clinic were safe.
“We’re very pleased that our own security systems were operating at top-notch,” she said. “Our staff were able to monitor our internal cameras and actually assist the local law enforcement folks to understand what was happening inside the center as it was happening.”
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