Police arrest Colorado abortion clinic gunman, 11 injured

COLORADO SPRINGS - Police arrested a gunman who stormed a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs on Friday and opened fire with a rifle in a burst of violence that left at least 11 people injured, including five officers, authorities said.

The suspect, who engaged in a protracted gun battle with police, surrendered to officers inside the building about five hours after the clinic siege began.

Authorities did not report any fatalities, but a police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, said police were still searching for possible victims who might have been left behind in the clinic as the building was evacuated.

"I do not have any confirmation of fatalities at this point," Buckley said.

A Reuters photographer at the scene saw a man in a white T-shirt, with his hands cuffed behind his back, being taken out of an armored police vehicle and placed in an unmarked squad car. Authorities said they did not know the suspect's identity but believed he acted alone.

His capture was first confirmed by the city in a message posted to its Twitter account. Police elaborated on the circumstances in a news conference moments later.

"We did get officers inside the building. They were able to shout to the suspect and make communication with him and at that point they were able to get him to surrender and he was taken into custody," Buckley said.

An hour earlier, police said progress in securing the building was slowed by the fact that the gunman brought "some bags" with him into the clinic and left several items outside, all of which needed to be checked for possible boobytraps or explosives.

After the arrest, Buckley said it would take hours more, and perhaps days, for investigators to fully process the crime scene.

She said 11 people injured in the incident, including five police officers, were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

Police swarmed the area around the building after an emergency call reporting shots fired at about 11:30 a.m. Mountain Time (1830 GMT), and officers ultimately confronted the suspect inside the building, Buckley said.

Television footage aired by CNN showed a number of clinic staff and patients being escorted safely into police vehicles from the building, which lies on the northwest side of Colorado Springs, about 70 miles (112 km) south of Denver.

The FBI and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local law enforcement investigators.

President Barack Obama was notified of the shooting by his Homeland Security adviser, Lisa Monaco, and "will be updated on the situation as necessary, a White House official said.

The Planned Parenthood center provides abortions, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing and other services, according to its website.

"We don't yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action," Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Three dead in shooting at US family planning center

COLORADO SPRINGS, United States - Three people were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning center in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours Friday before he surrendered.

A large area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.

Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for getting 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.

A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.

"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims: this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Suthers told reporters.

"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer."

It was not immediately clear if the Planned Parenthood family planning center had been specifically targeted.

Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

The women's health care giant has also been mired in a months-long scandal after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos showing the organization's officials discussing use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research.

GUNFIRE RINGS OUT

Earlier, there had been fears that the unidentified gunman might have explosives with him, and police were carefully combing the scene after the siege came to an end when he surrendered.

Speaking at the scene before the standoff ended, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Catherine Buckley warned that the gunman had taken "items" and bags inside the building with him.

An unknown number of people were inside the clinic at the time of the shooting, on what had been a regular working day at Planned Parenthood, a day after Thanksgiving.

A sheriff's department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had also been on standby, as the evening drew in on the snowy scene.

The immediate vicinity was placed on lockdown and people were told to stay indoors.

Buckley said 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.

SPECIFIC TARGET?

Quan Hoang, the owner of a nearby nail salon, told CNN that when he heard the gunfire break out, he feared a robbery was under way at a bank in the shopping area, which would have been bustling with people looking to pick up a bargain in the Black Friday sales.

"And we see cops, SWAT, the bomb squad, a whole bunch of people just trying to take cover around the Planned Parenthood area," he said by telephone.

"An officer came back in and said, 'Is everyone safe?' We asked him questions and he said they've barricaded him inside the Planned Parenthood and he was shooting out from the windows."

A White House official said that President Barack Obama had been notified of the incident by his Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco.

Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said that her initial information was that none of her staff or patients had been killed or injured.

Cowart said 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," she told CNN.

That included rushing into a safe room.

"They were able to hunker down and some got out early throughout the afternoon, but those that didn't were in a safe spot," Cowart said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com