<div>Three people were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning center in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered.<br /><br />A large area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the last evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.<br /><br />Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for getting the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.<br /><br />A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.<br /><br />"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims: this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Suthers told reporters.<br /><br />"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer."<br />It was not immediately clear if the Planned Parenthood family planning center had been specifically targeted.<br /><br />Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.<br /><br />The women's health care giant has also been mired in a months-long scandal after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos showing the organization's officials discussing use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research.<br /><br />Earlier, there had been fears that the unidentified gunman might have explosives with him, and police were carefully combing the scene after the siege came to an end when he surrendered.<br /><br />Speaking at the scene before the standoff ended, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Catherine Buckley warned that the gunman had taken "items" and bags inside the building with him.<br /><br />An unknown number of people were inside the clinic at the time of the shooting, on what had been a regular working day at Planned Parenthood, a day after Thanksgiving.<br /><br />A sheriff's department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had also been on standby, as the evening drew in on the snowy scene.<br /><br />The immediate vicinity was placed on lockdown and people were told to stay indoors. Buckley said the shooter was armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.</div>
<div>Three people were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning center in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered.<br /><br />A large area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the last evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.<br /><br />Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for getting the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.<br /><br />A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.<br /><br />"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims: this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Suthers told reporters.<br /><br />"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer."<br />It was not immediately clear if the Planned Parenthood family planning center had been specifically targeted.<br /><br />Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.<br /><br />The women's health care giant has also been mired in a months-long scandal after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos showing the organization's officials discussing use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research.<br /><br />Earlier, there had been fears that the unidentified gunman might have explosives with him, and police were carefully combing the scene after the siege came to an end when he surrendered.<br /><br />Speaking at the scene before the standoff ended, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Catherine Buckley warned that the gunman had taken "items" and bags inside the building with him.<br /><br />An unknown number of people were inside the clinic at the time of the shooting, on what had been a regular working day at Planned Parenthood, a day after Thanksgiving.<br /><br />A sheriff's department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had also been on standby, as the evening drew in on the snowy scene.<br /><br />The immediate vicinity was placed on lockdown and people were told to stay indoors. Buckley said the shooter was armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.</div>