<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n
Planned Parenthood, a national women\u2019s health care provider that offers abortions at some clinics, said late on Saturday that witnesses said the gunman was motivated by his opposition to abortion.<\/p>\n
Police have not disclosed a motive for Friday\u2019s attack. But on Saturday news reports said Dear had reportedly said \u201cno more baby parts\u201d while he was being arrested.<\/p>\n
The words suggest a link to a recent political controversy over videos released by an anti-abortion group which purport to show employees of Planned Parenthood discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood denies any wrongdoing by staff.<\/p>\n
The policeman who was killed was identified on Friday night as Garrett Swasey, a 44-year-old father of two. The civilian victims have not been named.<\/p>\n
US attorney general Loretta Lynch joined the condemnation of the attack on Saturday. \u201cThis unconscionable attack was not only a crime against the ColoradoSprings community, but a crime against women receiving healthcare services at Planned Parenthood, law enforcement seeking to protect and serve, and other innocent people,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It emerged on Saturday that the gunman \u201cbroke in\u201d to the clinic on Friday but did not get past a locked door leading to the main part of the facility.<\/p>\n
Vicki Cowart, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood\u2019s Rocky Mountain chapter, said there was no armed security at the clinic but when the shooting began the well-drilled staff immediately activated lockdown procedures.<\/p>\n
None of the 15 employees who were working throughout the building were hurt in Friday\u2019s attack. In addition to the three fatalities, nine people, including five other police officers, were wounded.<\/p>\n
Staff at the clinic, which has in the past been the target of anti-abortion protests, silenced their cellphones and worked hard to make sure people in the clinic got into safe spaces and stayed quiet. Managers also put word out to colleagues not to call those in the building in case any telephones would still ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a community that\u2019s been under attack,\u201d Cowart said. \u201cThat is what we\u2019re trained to do. We place the safety of our patients and staff above all else.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was not clear whether the shooting began outside or inside the building.<\/p>\n
One man said the gunman shot at him as he pulled his car out of the clinic\u2019s parking lot, blasting two holes in his windshield. Inside, one worker ducked under a table and called her brother to tell him to take care of her kids if she was killed.<\/p>\n
At one point, an officer whispered reports into his radio as he crept through the building. Others relayed information from surveillance cameras and victims in hiding. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a report of a victim texting from just east of the lobby,\u201d someone said.<\/p>\n
The gunman later surrendered to police after an hours-long standoff.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Cowart said the facilities provide care \u2013 including cancer screenings, STD tests and treatment, contraception and abortion \u2013 to 103,000 people in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming each year. She said the organisation would keep its doors open, despite the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe share the concerns of many Americans that the continued attacks against abortion providers and patients, as well as law enforcement officers, is creating a poisonous environment that breeds acts of violence,\u201d Cowart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we will never back away from providing critical health care to millions of people who rely on and trust us every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n
Facebook<\/span>Twitter<\/span>Pinterest<\/span><\/div> A man holds a sign as people gather for a vigil inside All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Colorado Springs. Photograph: STRINGER\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPlanned Parenthood said its 28 other regional health centers would remain open while Colorado Springs was closed for investigation.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Texas senator Ted Cruz has become the first Republican presidential candidate to directly address the fatal shooting, calling the attack \u201chorrific\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many of the party\u2019s candidates have come out strongly against Planned Parenthood on the campaign trail as they seek to secure conservative votes.<\/p>\n
Dear, who was in custody and is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday, was described by neighbours as reclusive. They said he stashed food in the woods, avoided eye contact and warned locals about government spying.<\/p>\n
At a vigil Saturday at All Souls Unitarian Church, Reverend Nori Rost called the gunman a \u201cdomestic terrorist.\u201d In the back of the room, someone held a sign that said: \u201cWomen\u2019s bodies are not battlefields. Neither is our town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cowart attended the service and drew a standing ovation when she walked to the pulpit. She promised to quickly reopen the clinic. \u201cWe will adapt. We will square our shoulders and we will go on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After her remarks, a woman in the audience stood up, objected to the vigil becoming a \u201cpolitical statement\u201d and left.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n
Facebook<\/span>Twitter<\/span>Pinterest<\/span><\/div> Colorado Springs shooting suspect Robert Lewis Dear. Photograph: AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nColorado governor John Hickenlooper said the city was in mourning and praised the bravery of first responders. He said the nation was wrestling with the causes of violence. \u201cThis is the kind of thing that hits the entire community in the gut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cowart said the organisation would learn from the attack. When asked if the clinic should have more security, she said the clinic\u2019s clients should not have to walk through metal detectors.<\/p>\n
The attack marked the latest mass shooting to stun the nation, and drew the now-familiar questions about a gunman\u2019s motives and whether anyone, from government to relatives, could have done anything to prevent an attack.<\/p>\n
On Saturday morning, President Obama issued a statement in which he expressed sympathy for the victims and the families of the dead and also considered the subject of gun control.<\/p>\n
The president said the US had \u201cto do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeriod,\u201d he added. \u201cEnough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic that offers abortion services in Colorado said \u201cno more baby parts\u201d after his arrest, according to authorities. A police official said Robert Lewis Dear, 57, made the comment shortly after he surrendered following the attack on the clinic in Colorado Springs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":170524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-170523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/170524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=170523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=170523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}