Police arrested the gunman who stormed a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs on Friday and opened fire with a rifle in an attack that left at least one officer dead along with two others and about a dozen other people injured, authorities said.
A law enforcement official told AP news agency the shooter is Robert Lewis Dear from North Carolina. No other details were given.
Robert Lewis Dear first engaged in a protracted gun battle with police but ultimately surrendered to officers inside the building about five hours after the start of the violence, which played out under a steady snowfall in Colorado's second-largest city.
The full extent of casualties was murky in the immediate aftermath of the gunman's capture. A police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, initially said she had no confirmation of fatalities, adding that police were still searching for possible victims who might have been left behind in the clinic as the building was evacuated.
Colorado Springs police chief Peter Carey addresses the media during an active shooter situation at a Planned Parenthood. Source: AAP
State Attorney General Cynthia Coffman posted a message on her official Twitter account a short time later saying two people had been killed, but that post was quickly deleted and replaced with another lamenting a "tragic loss of life."
Authorities said one officer has died, and a police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, said police were still searching for possible victims who might have been left behind in the clinic as the building was evacuated.
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 armored police vehicle and placed in an unmarked squad car. Authorities said they did not know the suspect's identity but believed he acted alone.
US police are responding to a report of an active shooter near a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.
His capture was first confirmed by the city in a message posted to its Twitter account. Police elaborated on the circumstances in a news conference moments later.
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"We did get officers inside the building. They were able to shout to the suspect and make communication with him and at that point they were able to get him to surrender and he was taken into custody," Buckley said.
An hour earlier, police said progress in securing the building was slowed by the fact that the gunman brought "some bags" with him into the clinic and left several items outside, all of which needed to be checked for possible boobytraps or explosives.
After the arrest, Buckley said it would take hours more, and perhaps days, for investigators to fully process the crime scene.
She said 11 people injured in the incident, including five police officers, were taken to area hospitals for treatment.
Police swarmed the area around the building after an emergency call reporting shots fired at about 11:30 a.m. Mountain Time (1830 GMT), and officers ultimately confronted the suspect inside the building, Buckley said.
Television footage aired by CNN showed a number of clinic staff and patients being escorted safely into police vehicles from the building, which lies on the northwest side of Colorado Springs, about 70 miles (112 km) south of Denver.
The FBI and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local law enforcement investigators.
President Barack Obama was notified of the shooting by his Homeland Security adviser, Lisa Monaco, and "will be updated on the situation as necessary, a White House official said.
The Planned Parenthood center 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.
Clinic repeatedly targeted by protesters
The Colorado Springs clinic has been the target of repeated protests, and in recent years moved to its current location, which has been derided as a "fortress" by abortion foes.
Hundreds of protesters picketed in front of the clinic in August as part of a push by abortion opponents to cut off public funding for Planned Parenthood, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
One man was charged with trespassing in 2012 after flouting as many as 30 warnings to keep of clinic property, the paper said.
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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 its tweet, adding that the area was "not secure" and urging members of the public in a nearby shopping center 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.
Colorado Springs was the scene of a mass shooting on Oct. 31 in which a gunman killed three people near downtown before dying in a shootout with police.
The city, home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Olympic training center, is also a hub for conservative Christian groups such as Focus on the Family that strongly oppose abortion.
