Source: Colorado shooter politically motivated,

said no more baby parts after attacking

Planned Parenthood

Ozy Licano, a witness

to the shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, describes the ordeal
and says, "I just don't know what possessed" the gunman. (Reuters)
Object 1

By Peter Holley, Sandhya Somashekhar, Lindsey Bever and Wesley

Lowery- November 28

The gunman suspected of storming a Planned Parenthood clinic and killing a police
officer and two others told the officers who arrested him no more baby parts, after
being taken into custody, according to a law enforcement official.
The attack on the clinic was definitely politically motivated, the official who has
been briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because it is
still unfolding told The Washington Post. NBC News, which first reported the
comment attributed to suspect Robert Lewis Dear, said Dear also mentioned President
Obama in a range of statements to investigators that left unclear his precise motivation
in targeting the clinic.
Yet even as authorities worked to determine the exact motive and released few details
about Fridays shootings, the politics of the highly charged abortion issue seemed to
outstrip their efforts to be methodical. While anti-abortion activists denied any
knowledge of Dear and said he is not affiliated with their movement, pro-choice
activists countered that rhetoric by conservatives against Planned Parenthood had
precipitated the nations latest mass shooting.

Dear is accused of killing two civilians in addition to University of Colorado police

officer Garrett Swasey, as well as injuring at least four other officers and five more
civilians. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to make his first appearance
in court on Monday, where he is expected to be receive state murder charges. A law
enforcement official said federal charges are also being considered.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs said Swasey, 44, had been with the
campus police department for six years and responded to the initial reports of an
active shooter.
[Slain officer was a co-pastor, skating champion]
Authorities say Dear was armed with a long gun and also brought into the building
several items that could have been explosive devices.
Police first received a call reporting an active shooter from inside the Planned
Parenthood at 11:38 a.m. local time on Friday, prompting response from both Colorado
Springs police was well as Swasey. By 12:11 a.m., a county SWAT team was en route.
But the incident turned into a standoff and a search, with the shooter holed up in the
Planned Parenthood building, at times exchanging gun fire with officers searching for
both him and potential victims. Police say officers used a Bearcat which is a large
tactical vehicle to enter the Planned Parenthood building, and evacuated 24 people.
An additional 300 people were sheltered in place in the surrounding buildings.
Dear was taken into custody at 4:52 p.m., a law enforcement official briefed on the
investigation said he immediately began discussing his motivations with investigators.

Follow

Springs Police @CSPDPIO

Suspect confirmed as Robert L. Dear date of birth of 4/16/1958
8:00 AM - 28 Nov 2015

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#CSPD confirming
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10:52 AM - 28 Nov 2015

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lt investigators and federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
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President
Obama was briefed on the situation Friday, a White House official said. On
s
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t
the president released a statement noting that the gunmans motive remains
s
unknown
but urging the public not to let such incidents become normal.

The last thing Americans should have to do, over the holidays or any day, is comfort
the families of people killed by gun violence people who woke up in the morning
and bid their loved ones goodbye with no idea it would be for the last time, the
statement said.

A suspected
gunman is in custody after a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in
Colorado left three people dead, including one police officer. Here's what
else we know about the incident. (The Washington Post)
Object 2

And yet, two days after Thanksgiving, the statement continued, thats what we are
forced to do again.
[In wake of Colorado shooting, Obama calls for more gun controls]
While acknowledging that investigators have more to uncover, one Planned
Parenthood official suggested the incident may be rooted in the poisonous
environment that feeds domestic terrorism.
We dont yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and
we dont yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack, Vicki
Cowart, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains,
said in a written statement. We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists
are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country. We
will never back away from providing care in a safe, supportive environment that
millions of people rely on and trust.

A gunman opened fire at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, authorities

said, killing at least three people and wounding at least nine others.

The shooting arrives during a period of heightened scrutiny for Planned Parenthood. In
July, an antiabortion group released a series of secretly filmed videos from a clinic in
Denver that showed staffers discussing the extraction of fetal tissue from aborted
fetuses before that tissue is sent to research facilities. The videos, which Planned
Parenthood officials have noted were heavily edited to bolster critics false claims,
provoked a series of nationwide protests in August aimed at cutting off federal funding
for the healthcare organization. Planned Parenthood officials said the protests were
designed to intimidate and harass patients.
Health centers associated with Planned Parenthood have been the target of threats
and violence because of the organizations 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 the undercover sting operation that produced the
controversial videos.
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.
In a Twitter message released Friday by Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountain, a clinic
spokesman said 28 other regional health centers will remain open no matter what.
We maintain strong security measures and always work closely with law enforcement

agencies to ensure our very strong safety record, the statement said.
In New York, Detective Brian Sessa said the police department had deployed
response vehicles to Planned Parenthood locations throughout the city out of an
abundance of caution. He added that there were no specific threats.

Follow
PPRM @PPRockyMountain
The heart of @PPRM is broken tonight:
11:59 PM - 27 Nov 2015

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officers who
put themselves in harms way in Colorado Springs, Cecile Richards,
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president kand chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said
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in a statement.
We are profoundly grateful for their heroism in helping to protect all
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women, men
and young people as they access basic health care in this country.
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Follow s

Cecile Richards

@CecileRichards

The Planned Parenthood family grieves for Officer Garrett Swasey's family, friends and
colleagues dealing with heartbreaking loss tonight.

10:36 PM - 27 Nov 2015

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The incident
in Colorado began on a traditionally quiet day of post-Thanksgiving
39
9 to a call for help
relaxation
7 about 11:30 a.m. Mountain time when police responded
7 a medical building,
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A bursti of gunfire early on gave way to relative calm in the afternoon,
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Police eewarned media not to set up too close to the scene because
8 it was not secure.
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Many workers and shoppers in the area were told to hunker down
3 in place, whether it
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be in the kitchen of their restaurant or the back seat of their car. 6Some remained there
for hours as snow accumulated and the sky darkened.
9

As of 4 p.m., police had not identified or made voice contact with the shooter. Buckley
said officers then managed to get into the building and shout at the suspect to give
himself up, after which he emerged from the building with his hands raised.
Before that, police had evacuated a number of people from the building, and they were
taken to a hospital for evaluation. Footage from television stations showed people in
medical jackets and scrubs being ushered through the snow into waiting vehicles.
Sydney Downey, 20, who works at Sally Beauty Supply nearby, said people inside the
store heard gunshots about 11:45 a.m.
A lot of gunshots, Downey said, like, too many to even count.
She said police and firefighters swarmed Centennial Boulevard, where the clinic is
located, and crowded around a nearby bank.

An officer came by the beauty supply store to make sure that the doors were locked
and that those inside were safe, she said.
He said, Get back away from the windows, and left, and that was it, Downey said.
After that, Downey said, she remained huddled in a back room with the store manager
and a customer.
Brigitte Wolfe, who works at a Japanese restaurant across the street from the clinic,
said she first learned something was amiss when police SWAT and Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives vehicles pulled up out front.
She heard no gunshots. We just thought it was some random whatever happening,
and then we turned on the news and started seeing what was going on, she said.
Suddenly, about 3 p.m., police and ATF agents banged on the restaurants door and
told us to hide where there was no windows because the shooter was active, Wolfe
said.
She and several employees and customers hid in the restaurants kitchen.
Wolfe said the police and agents commandeered the restaurants dining room.
Gunshots were audible as police used an armored vehicle to evacuate people from
the Planned Parenthood clinic.
Wolfe said that the medical facility had been the scene of protests most weekends but
that there had never been any violence until Friday.
Ozy Licano told the AP that he was in the clinics parking lot when Dear spotted him
and turned his weapon on the confused civilian, who escaped in his car.
He came out, and we looked each other in the eye, and he started aiming, and then
he started shooting, Licano said. I saw two holes go right through my windshield as I
was trying to quickly back up and he just kept shooting and I started bleeding.
He was aiming for my head, he added. Its just weird to stare in the face of someone
like that. And he didnt win.
Alice Crites, Jennifer Jenkins, Julie Tate, Niraj Chokshi and Jerry Markon contributed
to this report.
MORE READING: Undercover video shows Planned Parenthood official discussing
fetal organs used for research
How Planned Parenthood actually uses its federal funding

Peter Holley is a general assignment reporter at The Washington Post. He can be

reached at peter.holley@washpost.com.

Sandhya Somashekhar is the social change reporter for the Washington Post.

Lindsey Bever is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post. Tweet
her: @lindseybever

Wesley Lowery is a national reporter covering law enforcement and justice for the
Washington Post. He previously covered Congress and national politics.
Posted by Thavam