Officials Respond to Reports of Active Shooter at Planned Parenthood in

Terrified shoppers huddled in backrooms at a strip mall, watching tactical teams duck behind cars.

A law enforcement official said the gunman had been identified as Robert Lewis Dear, from North Carolina.

A shootout and standoff between the gunman and officers had been going on for hours Friday at the clinic. It is not certain if the shooting is connected to the Planned Parenthood’s abortion services.

Licano was parked in the handicap spot near the door, texting on his phone as he waited for his friends, when a man crawled up to the entrance.

Buckley said several people escaped from the building when the incident started and ran to a nearby bank. He tried to escape in his vehicle when the gunman looked at him.

For moments locals of Colorado were kept under a lockdown on Friday evening as there were unconfirmed reports about the number of shooters present during the incident. University Chancellor Pam Shockley Zalabak said he was responding in support of city police to the active shooter situation when he was killed.

“He was aiming for my head”, he said of the gunman. He sped out of the parking lot.

Nearby businesses, including a large grocery store, were on shelter-in-place protocols.

He described the gunman as an older bearded man who had on a hat with ear flaps – and hunting clothes that were not camouflage.

“While she was talking, he could hear gunfire in the background and after about two minutes, his sister hung up on him”.

“I heard everyone in the lobby screaming ‘Get down!” She said later a fifth officer might be hurt.

The motive of the suspect remains unclear.

The official said Friday the officer was with the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Swasey was married to Rachel Swasey, and the couple had two children, said Jared Verner, a spokesman for CU.

Nine people, including five Colorado Springs police officers, were shot and wounded, Buckley said. Suthers also praised the numerous officers and first responders on the scene today, noting the tragedy could have claimed many more lives.

“Some got out early throughout the afternoon, but those that didn’t were in a safe spot”, Cowart told CNN.

Agents of the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives were working with Colorado Springs police.

Swasey was raised in MA and was a competitive skater, competing in the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and later performing in ice shows in northern ME, according to a local report in Colorado.

Critics, many of whom seek to outlaw abortion in the United States, have falsely accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal organs and body parts for profit, and encouraging women to have abortions in order to expand such operations.

Planned Parenthood has disputed the videos, and contended the tapes are heavily edited and provide a distorted account.

Police said they did not expect to confirm the suspect’s identity before Saturday, but believed he acted alone.