WASHINGTON: 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.
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 said that “It was unclear whether Planned Parenthood. A major women's health and family planning group was the shooter's target.
Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.
Those critics, many of whom seek to outlaw abortion in the United States, have falsely accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal organs and body parts for profit, and encouraging women to have abortions in order to expand such operations.
The national Planned Parenthood office praised "the brave law enforcement officers who put themselves in harm's way" in the incident.
"We are profoundly grateful for their heroism in helping to protect all women, men and young people as they access basic health care in this country,"
Reference Source: dailymail.co