On November 27, 2015, a mass shooting occurred at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooter at approximately 11:38 a.m. MST. Clinic staff moved people out of the waiting room and locked a security door after hearing gunfire outside. As officers approached, the suspect opened fire, wounding several and killing one. A five-hour standoff followed, during which officers inside the clinic exchanged gunfire with the attacker. Police SWAT teams eventually drove an armored vehicle into the lobby, breaking through two sets of doors and freeing some of those trapped inside. The gunman surrendered and was taken into custody at 4:52 p.m. Multiple propane tanks were later found near his car, and authorities said they believed he intended to ignite them to cause an explosion.
Three people were killed: University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey, 44, who had responded to the shooting; Ke'Arre M. Stewart, 29, who was shot after running back toward the clinic to warn others; and Jennifer Markovsky, 35, who was accompanying a friend to the clinic. Nine other people—five police officers and four civilians—were shot and hospitalized.
The attacker, identified as Robert Lewis Dear Jr., a 57-year-old man originally from North Carolina who had been living in a trailer in Hartsel, Colorado, was arrested and charged in state court with first-degree murder. At court appearances he repeatedly interrupted proceedings, made statements affirming his guilt, and voiced anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood views, describing himself as "a warrior for the babies." According to an unnamed law enforcement official cited by NBC News, Dear made a statement referencing "baby parts" after his arrest, and investigators considered the attack politically motivated. Dear sought to represent himself, but the presiding judge, Gilbert Anthony Martinez of Colorado's Fourth Judicial District, ordered mental competency evaluations. In May 2016, the court ruled Dear incompetent to stand trial, citing a diagnosis of delusional disorder, persecutory type, and ordered him confined indefinitely to a state mental hospital. A further evaluation in February 2018 found he remained incompetent. In December 2019, a federal grand jury separately indicted Dear on 65 counts under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and three counts of using a firearm to commit murder; he remained held pending competency proceedings. As of October 2023, Dear had not stood trial. He died in federal custody on November 22, 2025, at the age of 67, without ever being tried.
The shooting drew public reaction from political and advocacy figures. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains president Vicki Cowart called it domestic terrorism. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper likewise characterized it as an act of terrorism, with Hickenlooper linking it to broader "inflammatory rhetoric" surrounding abortion debate. President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident and later issued a statement calling for stricter gun control legislation. The attack was the second shooting in Colorado Springs within a month, occurring 28 days after an earlier incident in the city.
Credit: National Center for Missing and Exploited ChildrenEditorial useSourceOVERTURNEDListen
