By Jennifer Goetz
Staff Writer
The suspect in the Planned Parenthood shooting that occurred on Friday, Nov. 27, in Colorado Springs, Co., which left three dead and nine injured, told law officials, “no more baby parts,” after his surrender, according to USA Today.
The suspect, Robert L. Dear, has been found to express anti-abortion sentiment, but authorities say that alone is not enough for a motive. It was Black Friday when a gunman opened fire in a parking lot and aimed at officers arriving at the scene, the New York Times reported. The gunman, alleged to be Dear, came to the clinic and surrendered after SWAT teams crashed armored vehicles into the lobby, according to USA Today.
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told reporters that they can draw their own conclusions about why Dear allegedly opened fire near the clinic, USA Today reported. According to the New York Times, Dear, 57, surrendered to authorities almost five hours after the shooting initially began at 11:30 a.m.
Dear had been held in a Colorado Springs jail, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office told CNN, and he was due in court on Monday, Nov. 30. As of Nov. 30, Dear had not been charged, but USA Today reported that this incident created controversy over both gun control and abortion.
Three people were killed in the incident, including Garrett Swasey, a University of Colorado-Colorado Springs police officer who rushed to the clinic to help. Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, and Jennifer Markovsky, 35, were also killed in the shooting, according to CNN. USA Today reported that neither of them were Planned Parenthood staff.
President Obama released a statement in light of this shooting on Saturday, Nov. 28, according to CNN, in which he said that the gun violence “is not normal. We can’t let it become normal.” He told the American people that “we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them.”
Vicki Cowart, president of the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, believes that this attack “was motivated by opposition to safe and legal abortion,” CNN reported.
Planned Parenthood is a clinic for women’s reproductive services and abortions. It recently faced political and social opposition, according to CNN, after eight undercover videos released this summer which alleged fetal organ sales.
CNN reported that Planned Parenthood maintains that the videos were highly edited and inaccurate.
This is the second shooting in a month for Colorado Springs USA Today reported. Last month, a gunman killed three people in the city’s downtown area before being shot and killed by police officers, according to USA Today.
