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Gunman kills three at US family planning center

Colorado Springs: A gunman opened fire at a prominent family planning center in Colorado, killing three people and wounding several in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered Friday.

An usually busy area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the early evening, just one day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in

By AFP
November 28, 2015
Colorado Springs: A gunman opened fire at a prominent family planning center in Colorado, killing three people and wounding several in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered Friday.

An usually busy area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the early evening, just one day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shine a spotlight on gun violence in the United States.

Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for hauling in the gunman without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a "safe room" for cover.

A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded, though none seriously.
"While this was a terrible, terrible tragedy, it could have been much worse if not for the reactions of first responders," Sutter told reporters.

The dead policeman was identified as Garrett Swasey, 44, a campus officer at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who had raced to the scene of the shooting.

Officials later identified the suspect as 57-year old Robert Lewis Dear of South Carolina, local media including The Denver Post reported.
It was unclear whether Planned Parenthood -- a major women´s health and family planning group -- was the shooter´s target.