Police Patrols Increase at NYC-Area Planned Parenthoods After Colorado Shooting

Police in the New York metro area say they're stepping up patrols at Planned Parenthood locations as a precautionary measure after a gunman shot several people in Colorado, including three fatally. 

Police in Colorado Springs captured the shooter after an hours-long standoff, but the gunfire left two civilians and a police officer dead, and several others wounded, authorities there said. 

The NYPD deployed Critical Response Vehicles to Planned Parenthood locations throughout the city as the active shooting situation was unfolding, and both Nassau and Suffolk County Police increased patrols to locations on Long Island. 

Two police cruisers could were seen patrolling a facility in Hempstead late Friday night.

The agencies say there are no specific threats to Planned Parenthood locations here, and are stepping up patrols as a precautionary measure. 

The shooting left about a dozen casualties, including five police officers, at a Planned Parenthood facility in a five-hour standoff on Friday, NBC News reported. The nine injured victims are in good condition, according to police. 

Armed with "some kind of a long gun," the suspect brought items inside with him, Colorado Springs police Lt. Catherine Buckley said, but it was unclear what they were. "We don't have any information on this individual's mentality, or his ideas or ideology," she said, according to The Associated Press.

"My heart's broken. This is a really really tough situation for a lot of people in our community and the community at large," Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said.

"This is a terrible, terrible tragedy that's occurred here in Colorado Springs," said Mayor John Suthers. "We mourn the loss of a very brave police officer. I just want to make sure that everybody knows that while this was a terrible, terrible tragedy, it could have been much worse but for the actions of the first responders."

The Planned Parenthood was open and active on Friday morning, with patients taking appointments, according to Buckley.

"At this time, our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law enforcement," Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said in a statement earlier Friday.

Colorado Springs.tga
NBC
Colorado Springs, Colorado

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