USA TODAY International Edition
Motive for attack on Colo. clinic unclear
Obama laments death of Planned Parenthood victims, easy accessibility of ‘ weapons of war’
Police were trying to determine Saturday why a middle- aged gunman in hunting gear allegedly went on a wild shooting spree inside a Planned Parenthood clinic, killing three people, including a police officer.
The suspect, Robert Lewis Dear, 57, of Hartsel, Colo., surrendered after a five- hour ordeal Friday in which the gunman fired randomly at people in the clinic and shot through walls with an assault- style rifle.
“We don’t have any information on this individual’s mentality, or his ideas or ideology,” said Lt. Catherine Buckley, spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs Police Department.
The dead officer was identified as Garrett Swasey, 44, a six- year veteran with the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs police force. He was one of many officers from the area who helped Colorado Springs police.
“The officer who gave his life today alongside the other officers put the lives of civilians in peril above his own,” the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police said via Twitter. “He died to save others.”
In a statement Saturday, President Obama said the suspect’s “so- called motive” was unknown, but what is known is that people, including a police officer, died and “more Americans and their families had fear forced upon them.”
“This is not normal,” Obama said. “We can’t let it become normal. If we truly care about this — if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience — then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough.
“May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save — and may he grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing.”
The names of the two civilians killed had not been disclosed, but they were not believed to include any Planned Parenthood employees. At least nine people were injured as the suspect shot randomly from the moment he appeared in front of the building.
During the lengthy standoff, police were able to reach numerous people trapped in the building, including some only yards away from the gunman, blocked only by office walls. Some had taken refuge in a “safe room” established in case of emergencies.
The clinic, which provides abortions and other reproductive health services, has been the site of numerous protests by abortion opponents, but it was not known whether Friday’s shooting was ideologically motivated.