Colorado Planned Parenthood Shooting, 3 Killed and 12 Injured

On November 27, 2015, a gunman killed three people and injured twelve others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The chaotic ordeal included gunfire between the gunman and the police officers on scene.

In the days since the shooting, the suspect has been identified by the Colorado Springs Police Department as Robert Lewis Dear. According to the New York Times, he was an independent art dealer with a bachelor’s degree in public administration. Dear owned on a trailer in Hartsel, Colorado, but he also lived in the North Carolina back woods He had arrest records in North and South Carolina, and his ex-wife Pamela Ross once called the police to accuse him of domestic violence.

The victims of the shooting were Ke’arre Stewart, Jennifer Markovsky, and Garrett Swasey.

Ke’arre Stewart was a 29-year-old Army veteran who had two girls, aged eleven and five, who lived in Texas. He graduated from La Vega High School in Texas in 2004 and enlisted in the Army right after graduation. In the Army, he served in the 4th Infantry Division and was deployed to Iraq. After he returned from war, he was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. Stewart was bringing a friend to the Planned Parenthood clinic that Friday. Witnesses said that he tried to help the others before he was killed.

Jennifer Markovsky, née Ah King, was a 36-year-old mother of two who was bringing a friend to the clinic when she was killed. She grew up in Waianae, Hawaii– a small community in Oahu. She graduated from Waianae High School in 1997 and was active in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. She moved to Colorado Springs when her husband, Paul Markovsky, was stationed there in the military.

Garrett Swasey was a 44-year-old police officer who was on duty when he was shot down by the gunman. He was originally from Melrose, Massachusetts. Swasey was a church elder and a co-pastor at Hope Chapel, an evangelical church in Colorado Springs. Apart from his active church life and his police career, he loved to ice skate and was a junior national couples ice dancing champion. He is survived by his loving wife and his two children.

The community has expressed their remembrance and grief through two vigils at city churches. The All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church held a Saturday vigil for all of the victims. The Hope Chapel held a vigil for their pastor Garrett Swasey, remembering him and praying for the gunman as well.