Active Shooter At Planned Parenthood — Four Officers, Five People Wounded, Suspect In Custody

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO — At 12:31 PM CT, a police scanner reported that multiple officers were down in vicinity of the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that officers had been inside the medical offices of Planned Parenthood when an armed shooter came in and opened fire.  As of 1:43 PM CT, Officers were still unable to ascertain how many shooters were in the building, though they had cordoned off the area and advised nearby businesses and medical facilities to stay away from the scene.  The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that police are continuing to encounter fire from a high-powered rifle.  As of 4:50 pm, the shooter was detained after he surrendered himself to law enforcement without further incident.

via The Gazette

• Radio traffic from police starting at 4:50 p.m.:
• * “He’s going to come out with his hands up.”
• * “He’s standing up.”
• * “Can you confirm he has his hands clear?”
• * “He’s facing down that hallway to the east, his shoulders down.”
• * “Bear, you can back up.”
• * “Bear, he is coming out.”
• * “We’ve got to take him out if he has any IED suspicion on him.”
• * “Are we in the way of the snipers?”
• * “Z-39, we have one suspect trained right now.”
• * 4:52 p.m.: “We have our suspect right now. He is alone and by himself.”

Businesses in the nearby vicinity have reported incoming indirect gunfire.  One nearby grocery store had a bullet enter.  Police and emergency personnel are doing their best to secure the scene and clear people from neighboring businesses.

There are multiple medical businesses in the same building as Planned Parenthood and it is unknown what the shooter’s motives are for storming the building.

Four civilians have been taken away with injuries.  Four officers have also been hospitalized following wounds received in the line of duty.

Police had begun their engagement with the suspect at around 11:38 am CT.  They tried in vain to get as many of their own wounded officers and other medical personnel and patients evacuated from the active firefight.  The total tally from the engagement, as of 4:50 pm, is four officers wounded with non-life-threatening injuries and five people from the Planned Parenthood.

And lastly, a nod of the hat goes to the gentleman who volunteered his services to law enforcement.

via The Gazette

2:51 p.m. UPDATE

There was a moment this afternoon when a man walked up to the scene with a handgun strapped to his waist and ammunition vest around his chest. He appeared to be asking police if he could help. Officers told him to leave immediately because appearing at the scene while wearing firearms and that equipment was a bad idea.

While law enforcement could obviously not take him up on the offer, it was a rather genuine thing to do — albeit slightly misguided in an active shooter situation.