LOS ANGELES, USA (2nd UPDATE) – At least 3 were killed and 11 injured on Friday, November 27, when a shootout erupted between police and a gunman at a Planned Parenthood family planning center in the US state of Colorado.
Four police officers have been injured in the standoff inside the facility in Colorado Springs, police spokeswoman Catherine Buckley said.
The gunman eventually surrndered on Friday, with Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers saying the "situation has been resolved." "There's no continuing peril to the citizens of Colorado Springs but there's a huge crime scene that has to be processed," he added.
The mayor would later tell reporters that at least 2 civilians and one police officer died after the standoff. "I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," said Suthers.
Buckley said that there appeared to be only "one active known shooter... but we always train for the possibility of additional people."
"The officers inside the building have encountered the individual and they're working on that at this time," she said, describing an "exchange of fire."
Abortion is one of the services provided for women by Planned Parenthood and the association has become an lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.
News footage from the snowy scene showed a sheriff's department SWAT team with an armored vehicle arriving at what an officer told AFP was an ongoing situation.
Buckley said the shooter is armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.
Quan Hoang, the owner of a nearby nail salon, told CNN that when he heard the gunfire break out he feared a robbery was under way at a bank in the shopping area.
Police told him and his customers to take shelter in the back of his store and they were still there more than two hours later as the crisis continued.
"And we see cops, SWAT, the bomb squad, a whole bunch of people just trying to take cover around the Planned Parenthood area," he said by telephone.
"An officer came back in and said, 'Is everyone safe?' We asked him questions and he said they've barricaded him inside the Planned Parenthood and he was shooting out from the windows."
A White House official said that President Barack Obama had been notified of the incident by his Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco.
Earlier, Colorado Springs police had warned residents to steer clear of the area, tweeting: "Responding to call of active shooter... the area is NOT secure."
"A police operation is still under way," a police source told AFP, adding that "multiple" people had been shot.
Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said that she was hoping for a peaceful resolution.
"At this time, our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law enforcement," Cowart said, according to NBC News. – Rappler.com