Shooting at US clinic leaves 3 people dead

NEW YORK / WASHINGTON

Two civilians and a police officer were killed Friday when a gunman opened fire at a family-planning clinic in the western U.S. state of Colorado, according to media reports.

The five-hour standoff at the Planned Parenthood clinic inColorado Springs left nine other people, including five police officers, injured before the suspected gunman – identified as Robert Lewis Dear, 59 -- was captured.

As of Friday night, police were still working to pinpoint his motive and why the clinic was the target of the shooting.

CNN said bomb experts were investigating the suspect's vehicle in a nearby parking lot.

Authorities said the slain officer was 44-year-old Garrett Swasey, who was serving with the University of Coloradopolice department. He was assisting the ColoradoSprings police during the incident.

Names of the other two victims were not immediately available.

The injured were transported to hospitals with gunshot wounds, Colorado Springs police spokesperson Catherine Buckley said, adding that all were in good condition.

“This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal. If we truly care about this -- if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience -- then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough,” said President Barack Obama in a statement.

Obama has been putting pressure on Congress to pass a legislation on gun control but a majority of Republican lawmakers are against it.

“The last thing Americans should have to do, over the holidays or any day, is comfort the families of people killed by gun violence -- people who woke up in the morning and bid their loved ones goodbye with no idea it would be for the last time,” he added.

Mayor John Suthers said: "This is a terrible tragedy. It could have been much worse but for the actions of the first responders. I commend the Colorado Springs Police Department and all of the other first responders."

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department said it deployed critical response vehicles to Planned Parenthood sites in the city.

"As a precaution Critical Response Vehicles redeployed to Planned Parenthood sites due to active shooter in Colorado. NO threats to NYC sites," the department tweeted.

Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health care services across the country, according to its website. The group operates nearly 700 health centers in the U.S.