#Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting: civilians, police killed, suspect captured

#US : A GUNMAN who opened fire inside a Planned Parenthood clinic was arrested Friday after engaging in gun battles with authorities during an hourslong standoff that killed three people and wounded nine others, officials said.

A 44-year-old police officer with the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs named Garrett Swasey was among those killed in the rampage, police said. Two civilians also died, and nine other people, including five police officers, were wounded.
A law enforcement official identified the gunman, who was in custody, as Robert Lewis Dear of North Carolina. The official, who had direct knowledge of the case, spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing investigation. No other details about the shooter were immediately available.

Killed in the line of duty … Garrett Swasey, 44, was fatally shot. Picture: UCCS
Authorities cautioned that they do not know a motive for the attack or whether the shooter had any connection to Planned Parenthood.
“We don’t have any information on this individual’s mentality, or his ideas or ideology,” police Lt. Catherine Buckley said.
Planned Parenthood said in a statement that it did not know the full circumstances or motives behind the attack at the Colorado Springs clinic, or whether the organisation was the target.
Police responded to a report of an active shooter at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Spring, Colorado, at 11.49am local time.
The gunman was arrested after a violent stand-off that dragged on for five hours, ending only when officers finally made voice contact with him by shouting to him and convinced him to surrender. via APSource
Mayor John Suthers confirmed the situation had been resolved.
“There’s no continuing peril to the citizens of Colorado Springs but there’s a huge crime scene that has to be processed,” Mr Suthers said.
Police officer Swasey, 44, was on duty at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs campus had raced to the scene of the shooting.
His death was also confirmed with “great sadness” in a statement by university’s chancellor, Pam Shockley Zalabak, who said he was a six-year veteran at the UCCS police department.
“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.” AP Sources