Abortion Clinic Shooting Victims Identified

Abortion Clinic Shooting Victims Identified

Three people who were shot dead after a gunman opened fire at an abortion clinic in Colorado Springs have been identified.

Ke'Arre Stewart, 29, was an Iraq War veteran who had recently left the military and was accompanying someone to the Planned Parenthood centre when he was killed, according to his family.

The father-of-two reportedly ran inside the building after he was shot to warn people to take cover and then rang 911 to alert authorities.

Mr Stewart was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs until last year, when he was discharged from the US Army.

The second victim was accompanying a friend for a procedure at the clinic when she was shot and killed.

Jennifer Markovsky, 36, was the mother of two children and has been described as kind-hearted.

Her father, John Ah-King, wrote on his Facebook page: "To my daughter Jennifer I'm going to miss so much, I lost you in a senseless shooting in Colorado Springs.

"Life was too short my beloved daughter, I was waiting to see you soon.

"I'm going to miss you, my memories of you will love on in my heart and mind! Missing you!!!"

The third victim has been identified as University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey, 44. He also had two children.

His widow, Rachel Swasey, said in a statement on Sunday that "his last act was for the safety and well-being of others".

Former figure skating champion Nancy Kerrigan, who grew up with Mr Swasey skating in Melrose, Massachusetts, described him as a loyal and true friend.

Before he became a police officer, Mr Swasey was a junior national couples ice dancing champion.

The alleged gunman, 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear, gave himself up after a five-hour standoff with police at the clinic.

Dear, from South Carolina, will make his first court appearance on Monday.

Police have not said why the Planned Parenthood centre was attacked, but Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers said people could make "inferences from where it took place".

Dear is reported to have said "no more baby body parts" when he was arrested.

The facility has repeatedly been targeted by anti-abortion protesters and was hit by claims it sells aborted foetal tissue for profit in a series of videos earlier this year.