At least 11 injured in attack on Colorado abortion clinic

Police arrested a gunman who stormed a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs on Friday and opened fire with a rifle in a burst of violence that left at least 11 people injured, including five officers.

Five hours after the siege began, the suspect was taken into custody, the city of Colorado Springs confirmed in a message posted on the municipal Twitter account.

A Reuters photographer at the scene saw a man in a white T-shirt, with his hands cuffed behind his back, being taken out of an armoured police vehicle and placed in an unmarked squad car.

Police had engaged in a shootout with the gunman, according to reports.

Police swarmed the area around the building after an emergency call reporting shots fired at about 11:30am local time.

Officers confronted the suspect inside the building, a police department spokeswoman said.

“The officers inside the building have encountered the individual,” she said, in a briefing to reporters. “They were exchanging gunfire.”

She said that officers had been hurt in the shooting, as well as an unknown number of other people, but there was no immediate information on the nature or extent of their injuries.

She also said police confronted only one gunman in the clinic, which lies on the northwest side of Colorado Springs, which is about 112km south of Denver.

Two hospitals in the area had reported receiving a total of nine patients from the shooting, but a police spokeswoman said not all of those injured were immediately transported from the scene.

Live television footage aired by CNN showed several people being escorted safely from the building into police vehicles.

CBS News reported that a gunman fired shots upon entering the clinic, which was guarded by security, and that law enforcement officials had been concerned about the possibility of explosives being involved.

In an account published by the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper, a local man told police on the scene that his daughter works at the clinic and was “in the line of fire”, to which officers replied, “We’re trying to get her out.” The suspect was armed with a high-powered rifle, the Gazette said.

The FBI and agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted local law enforcement investigators.

US president Barack Obama was notified of the shooting by his homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, a White House official said.

Planned Parenthood

The Planned Parenthood centre provides abortions, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing and other services, according to its website.

“We don’t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action,” Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said in a statement.

“We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country.

“We will never back away from providing care in a safe, supportive environment that millions of people rely on and trust.”

Abortion is a divisive issue in Colorado.

The Colorado Springs clinic has been the target of repeated protests, and has been derided as a “fortress” by abortion opponents after moving to its current location.

Early police reports painted a chaotic picture of the situation.

“The area is NOT secure. Media do not stage in the area,” the police department said in a tweet, and urged members of the public in a nearby shopping centre to “shelter in place”.

Brigette Wolfe, who works across the street from the scene, told CNN she could see law enforcement officers, including police SWAT teams, deployed in the area.

Reuters