COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, Nov. 28, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) ─ Officials have confirmed the identity of the shooter accused of killing three and injuring at least nine as Robert Lewis Dear.
Investigators confirmed the identity of Dear, 57, after his name was leaked to the media as officials sought to learn more about the man.
Dear was arrested after a five-hour standoff Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Among those killed was Colorado Springs Police Department officer Garrett Swasey, 44. Two others who were not officers also died in the attack.
According to a statement released by Planned Parenthood, all its employees are among the survivors.
President Barack Obama spoke about Friday’s event, saying it was the last thing Americans should have to deal with on a holiday or any other day.
“We don’t yet know what this particular gunman’s so-called motive was for shooting twelve people, or for terrorizing an entire community, when he opened fire with an assault weapon and took hostages at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado,” Obama said.
“What we do know is that he killed a cop in the line of duty, along with two of the citizens that police officer was trying to protect. We know that law enforcement saved lives, as so many of them do every day, all across America. And we know that more Americans and their families had fear forced upon them.
“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.”
