Court documents in Planned Parenthood shooting investigation released
Previously sealed court documents in the Planned Parenthood shooting investigation were released Monday evening.
Two dozen news organizations, including KRDO NewsChannel 13, petitioned the court to release the documents.
Robert Dear is accused of opening fire at the Planned Parenthood clinic in the 3400 block of Centennial Boulevard in Colorado Springs on November 27, 2015. Three people died in the attack. Nine others were hurt.
A total of 11 documents were released Monday night. They include one arrest warrant and affidavit and 10 search warrants.
You will find links to all of the documents on page 2 of this article.
THE FIRST FRANTIC MINUTES
The arrest affidavit outlines in detail what investigators say happened that day.
Many of the details it contains had already been made public, but the document also reveals some new details about the events of that day.
On November 27, 2015 at around 11:30 a.m., police begin receiving reports of an active shooter at the Planned Parenthood in the 3400 block of Centennial Boulevard on the west side of Colorado Springs.
Officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Police Department respond. Arriving officers immediately report coming under fire.
A description of the shooter emerges early on. Witnesses say he is an older white man with facial hair. He was seen standing near a truck in the parking lot and was armed with a long gun.
The document says the shooter was firing the gun as he walked into the clinic. Witnesses said he was carrying black bags over his shoulders.
The affidavit says the shooter had placed propane tanks outside of the building next to his vehicle, and that he had intentionally shot at the tanks. He hoped they would explode, but they did not.
One victim told police that he got out of his car and was shot twice as he tried to run away. He said he believed two people he was with had been shot, and that one of them was dead.
Another victim told a detective that she was in the parking lot when an older white male approached her. She said the man told her she shouldn’t have come here today and then shot her multiple times.
The affidavit notes that the investigation was in its infancy at the time of its filing , and complete details about all of the victims were not yet available.
A MOTIVE EMERGES
Hours into the standoff at the Planned Parenthood Clinic on Centennial Boulevard, Robert Dear’s arrest affidavit says the shooter indicates he’s willing to surrender.
Tactical officers took Dear into custody. According to the document, he yelled something about the killing of babies as he was placed into a patrol car.
At the police station, Dear is interviewed by a Colorado Springs Police detective and an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office detective.
The affidavit says that during the interview, Dear told the investigators that he had gone to the Planned Parenthood because he was upset with them performing abortions and selling baby parts. Dear said he went into the building with 4 SKS rifles after shooting someone in the parking lot and shooting at a car in the parking lot.
The affidavit says that Dear went on to tell the detectives that he could see out the window an armed police officer approaching the building. He said the officer could not see him inside because of the tinting on the windows and that he shot the officer through the window. The document notes that it was believed that the officer shot through the window was UCCS Police Officer Garrett Swasey. Swasey was one of several officers shot that day. He is the only officer who was killed.
The affidavit says Dear admitted to the detectives that he had placed propane tanks outside of the building with the intention of shooting them to make them explode. It didn’t work.
Finally, the arrest affidavit says Dear showed up to the Planned Parenthood wearing a homemade ballistic vest made of coins and duct tape.
DEAR ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS
In the first of ten search warrants released Monday, more details from that police station interview involving a Colorado Springs Police Detective and an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office detective are released.
According to the warrant, Dear (who lived in Hartsel) told the detectives that he drove from Woodland Park to Colorado Springs and that he had to stop several times to ask for directions to the Planned Parenthood clinic.
The document says Dear told the detectives that he finally got the address by calling Planned Parenthood and asking for it.
As the interview went on, according to the Warrant, Dear became philosophical. He told the detectives his dream was that when he died and went to heaven he would be met by all the aborted fetuses at the gates of heaven that would thank him for what he did.
Dear went on to say that he believes President Barack Obama is the antichrist, and quoted bible passages that he believes support his viewpoints.
The arrest warrant also revealed that there is surveillance video. The document says the events seen in the video match the account given by Dear.
DEAR’S GIRLFRIEND IS INTERVIEWED
The final bit of new information to come from the search warrants involves Robert Dear’s then girlfriend, Stephanie Bragg.
Bragg was interviewed by an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
During the interview, Bragg told the agent that Dear had anti-abortion views and had talked about Paul Hill. Hill was executed in 2003 after being sentenced to die for murdering an abortion doctor in Florida in 1994.
Bragg said that Dear mentioned Hill after driving by an abortion clinic in North Carolina and again after learning that there was an abortion clinic in Colorado Springs.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 is providing links to all of the documents for you to read. Some names have been redacted from the documents by the courts.
Arrest Warrant/Affidavit
Search Warrant
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