Though details are still emerging about the motives and sequence of events surrounding a shootout that took place at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs Friday—an incident that left three dead, including one officer and two civilians— statements from supporters of the nation’s leading provider of abortions have been blaming pro-life advocates for creating the “environment” for the horrific incident.
Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, issued a statement Friday saying that while “we don’t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action” or if Planned Parenthood was actually the target (some outlets reported initially that the shootout began at a nearby bank), “We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country.”
We don’t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and we don’t yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack. 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.
President Obama also issued a statement, once again calling for tightening national gun laws.
“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.”
The New York Times reports that a police official identified the shooting suspect as Robert Lewis Dear, 57, of North Carolina, but have yet to identify his motives:
The police did not describe the motives of the 57-year-old gunman. For hours on Friday, officers traded gunfire with him inside the clinic before they were able to shout to the man and persuade him to give up, according to Lt. Catherine Buckley, a police spokeswoman.
“The perpetrator is in custody,” Mayor John Suthers said at an evening news conference. “There is a huge crime scene that has to be processed,” he said, “and we have to determine how many victims there are.”
The shootout with Dear resulted in the deaths of three people, including Officer Garrett Swasey, 44, who worked with the University of Colorado, and the injury of at least nine. Dear brought what police described as suspicious items to the clinic, investigators currently determining if they were explosives.
Fox News Channel and The Gazette reported early Friday evening that witnesses claimed that the shooting began at the nearby Chase Bank, while others are reporting it as a targeted attack on Planned Parenthood.
After bunkering down in Planned Parenthood for hours, and repeatedly firing on officers, Dear surrendered to the police around 7:45 PM.
“Very, very difficult afternoon in Colorado Springs,” Colorado Spring Police Chief Peter Cary told reporters. “My heart goes out to… the victims here. At this point, I have as many questions as you do. We’re still trying to figure out what happened, who our victims are, and what we need to do from this point forward. I have some hurt police officers, they’re at the hospital, that’s where I’m headed to next. We’ll give you some more information as soon as we know it.”
According to multiple reports, the two civilians killed do not appear to have been Planned Parenthood employees.
UPDATE: NBC News reported Saturday that the shooter made the comment “no more baby parts” when questioned by authorities.
More details about Dear have surface. He had been living in a trailer in Colorado, had a criminal record, and, according to neighbors, appeared to be mentally unstable.
Two of the more notable of Dear’s run-ins with the law, was a 1997 incident where Dear was arrested for domestic violence against his wife (since divorced), who never pressed charges, and a 2002 allegation of being a “Peeping Tom.”
“He was really strange and out there, but I never thought he would do any harm,” his former next door neighbor John Hood told AP.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has also now officially weighed in on the shooting, condemning the attack and deliberately connecting it to the so-called “War on Women.”
“This unconscionable attack was not only a crime against the Colorado Springs community, but a crime against women receiving healthcare services at Planned Parenthood, law enforcement seeking to protect and serve, and other innocent people,” Lynch said in a statement Saturday.