Three dead, 9 injured in shooting at US family planning centre : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Three dead, 9 injured in shooting at US family planning centre

COLORADO SPRINGS (US): Three persons were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning centre in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered. A police officer was among the dead, Mayor John Suthers said, while nine others — among them five policemen — were wounded.

Three dead, 9 injured in shooting at US family planning centre

A suspect is taken into custody outside a Planned Parenthood centre in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 27, 2015. Reuters



Colorado Springs (US), November 28

Three persons were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning centre in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered.

A large area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the last evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.

Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to the police for getting the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.

A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five policemen -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.

"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."

It was not immediately clear if the Planned Parenthood family planning center had been specifically targeted.

Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

The women's health care giant has also been mired in a months-long scandal after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos showing the organization's officials discussing use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research.

Earlier, there had been fears that the unidentified gunman might have explosives with him, and police were carefully combing the scene after the siege came to an end when he surrendered.

Speaking at the scene before the standoff ended, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Catherine Buckley warned that the gunman had taken "items" and bags inside the building with him.

An unknown number of people were inside the clinic at the time of the shooting, on what had been a regular working day at Planned Parenthood, a day after Thanksgiving.

A sheriff's department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had also been on standby, as the evening drew in on the snowy scene.

The immediate vicinity was placed on lockdown and people were told to stay indoors.

Buckley said the shooter was armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire. — AFP

 

Top News

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Ansari was hospitalised after he complained of abdominal pai...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

MEA spokesperson says India is proud of its independent and ...

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Bhatt, who was sacked from the force in 2015, is already beh...


Cities

View All