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Armored Vehicles, Ambulances On The Scene In Colorado Springs




CATHERINE BUCKLEY: We have brought all of our resources to bear in order to address this situation.

SHAPIRO: There are several armored vehicles and ambulances on the scene. TV images have shown a number of people being escorted out of the building, some in white lab coats. We know so far that four officers have been injured, and we've learned that area hospitals are treating at least nine victims. NPR's Jason Beaubien is following this story and is with us now. Hi, Jason.


SHAPIRO: Do we know what's happening inside the building right now?

BEAUBIEN: We've got a sense of what's going on. We've been listening through to some of the scanner traffic and being able to watch some of the images from TV cameras. And you've seen that police officers have moved into the building. It appears that they're moving room by room, trying to clear the building. There's some talk on the scanners about trying to cut through drywall to reach some people who are still hiding in different parts of the building. And it is still clear from - we have not gotten any word that this shoot has actually been either apprehended, shot or somehow neutralized.

SHAPIRO: And that means this has been unfolding for hours.


SHAPIRO: What have police said about how this unfolded?

BEAUBIEN: We don't know much about how this unfolded. The initial reports were just before noon local time in Colorado. The initial report came in from the - actually, it's from the fire department - that there was an active shooter at the Planned Parenthood on Centennial Boulevard. And we still don't know the motives. We still don't know whether it's one gunman or two gunmen. There's a lot that we still don't know about what's going on here.

SHAPIRO: It seems to have affected the immediate surroundings. The clinic is on a road called Centennial Boulevard - that has been blocked off. People in neighboring buildings have been told to shelter in place. How big is this?

BEAUBIEN: This is a huge operation in terms of the police resources that have been deployed to it. You've got federal agents. You've got local agents that have surrounded the area. Fortunately, the office complex where this has happened is fairly isolated and has got sort of open grassland around it - except for one building that's right next to it, which is a nursing home. Those patients have been told to shelter in place. And officers have actually said that they've put other officers inside with them to protect those people in there. A little bit further down the road is a fairly busy shopping center, with a supermarket and people have been - there told to clear out as well. But it's a huge operation. Law enforcement from all around the region there have descended on this to try to deal with it.

SHAPIRO: We've also been told the FBI is involved, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is involved. The president has been briefed. As you've said, Jason, it's too early to know motives. There's a lot that we still don't know about this. We understand it is taking place at a Planned Parenthood clinic. Has Planned Parenthood said anything? Is there anything you can tell us from that angle?

BEAUBIEN: Planned Parenthood has said that they're monitoring the situation. We did get word that in New York City - New York is actually deploying more officers to some of the clinics there to make sure that there isn't some nationwide thing going on against people in Planned Parenthood at the moment. Really at the moment, this is one of these situations that is still unfolding. There's a lot that we don't know, and hopefully we'll know more in the hours and, you know, days to come.

SHAPIRO: And we will keep you updated as we learn more over the course of the evening. Thanks very much, Jason.

BEAUBIEN: You're welcome.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Jason Beaubien. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.