In yet another mass shooting in the US, a gunman shot dead three people, including a police officer, and injured nine people on Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado — a State that witnessed the horrific 2012 shooting rampage at a movie complex that killed 12 people and left 70 injured.
The gunman, who surrendered after a tense five-hour stand-off at the clinic in Colorado Springs, was identified as 57-year-old Robert lewis Dear. Armed with a “long gun”, he went on a shooting spree inside the clinic that killed police officer Garrett Swasey, 44, and two civilians. The nine injured were reported to be out of danger.
The gunman’s motive behind the attack and his choice of venue were not immediately clear.
Planned Parenthood, a nationwide provider of reproductive health care services with about 700 clinics across the US, has for long faced criticism from conservative groups and Republican lawmakers for providing abortion services.
In July, Planned Parenthood became embroiled in a major controversy with an anti-abortion group releasing videos and accusing it of selling aborted foetuses for profit. Although it has denied the charge, Planned Parenthood has faced a series of protests from pro-life groups, demanding that federal and local governments scrap grants of well over $500 million to this organisation annually.