“I’m guilty. There’s no trial”.
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The Colorado Springs shooter – identified by police as 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear – surrendered about five hours after the attack began.
“The police realize you have to be aggressive to intervene and not let a perpetrator have free reign in there and wind up killing as many people as possible”, he said.
Dear, 57, made the comments during a hearing for prosecutors to announce charges against him for the shooting, in which three people were killed and nine were injured.
On Nov. 30, Mr. Dear appeared in court via video link in a hearing in which authorities lodged an initial criminal charge of first degree murder. He was not scheduled to formally enter a plea during the day’s proceedings. I don’t know what kind of bystanders were there and what they were saying.
“Protect the babies!” he yelled at a different point.
One of those killed was a police officer.
The gunman’s attack had been motivated by anti-abortion views, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains president Vicki Cowart said. However, several media outlets, citing law enforcement sources, have reported Dear uttered the phrase “no more baby parts” in statements to investigators following his arrest.
The serenity of Colorado’s crisp winter air was shattered with a burst of gunfire on November 28 when Robert Lewis Dear invaded the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. “Could you add that to the list?”
Police have not discussed a motive in the shooting despite signs that Dear was concerned about abortion, a service provided by Planned Parenthood, a national family planning clinic.
“We have serious concerns about competency in this case”, Mr. King said, shortly after Mr. Dear had exclaimed, “You’re not my lawyer!”.
Nine people were also wounded.
El Paso County District Attorney Dan May said after an initial court hearing for Dear last week that it was too early to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Dear also said he would not undergo a mental evaluation, nor be put under psychotropic drugs, “so that I can’t talk like the Batman guy”.
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Planned Parenthood has said the videos, which alleged illegal fetal organ sales, were heavily edited and inaccurate. “That’s what Planned Parenthood does”, according to Rick Sallinger, a reporter with CBS4 news in Denver who was in the courtroom.
