Shooting "very much an active situation," according to police.
A number of citizens and at least four police officers were among the injured during a shooting that happened Friday in a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic. The Washington Post reports that police described the scene as “very active.” The suspect is assumed to still be in the building, with gunshots audible in the surrounding area.
Businesses in the area were placed on lock-down, as very little information about the occurrences inside and around the facility is known. Vicky Cowart, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said that it is unknown if Planned Parenthood was “in fact the target of the attack.”
The motive of the shooter has not yet been released. According to abortion rights groups, Planned Parenthood and affiliated clinics have seen a spike in threats since anti-abortion groups conducted an undercover sting. The sting resulted in a video claiming that Planned Parenthood sells remaining fetal tissue after an abortion procedure.
Colorado Springs Police Lt. Catherine Buckley told reporters that police are “trying to stabilize the situation.” Buckley also said that police “don’t have anything about this individual’s mentality, or his ideas or ideology.”
The gunman has not been identified. He was described as a white male, with a stocky build, wearing a trench coat. Despite earlier reports stating that the shooter was contained, Buckley affirmed that the incident was still “very much an active situation.”
Buckley did not rule out the possibility of hostages, when asked by reporters. People were evacuated from the building while shooting was still taking place. State investigators and federal agents from the ATF and FBI joined police at the scene of the shooting. At least nine victims have been taken to hospitals in the Colorado Springs area.
The first report of the shooting was at 11:38 a.m. Mountain time, via a 911 call placed from the Planned Parenthood center.