Robert Dear, the suspect in the 2015 Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic shooting, died in federal custody at the age of 67, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The death has ended the yearslong legal battle over whether he could be prosecuted for the attack. Dear was charged in 2019 and had been entangled in a legal battle over whether he could be medicated for his mental illness, delusional disorder, against his will. He had been repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial, stalling his prosecution for the attack in Colorado Springs.
According to the Justice Department, on November 27, 2015, Dear traveled to the Planned Parenthood clinic intending to wage ‘war’ because the clinic offered abortion services. He was armed with four SKS rifles, five handguns, two additional rifles, a shotgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, as well as propane tanks. Dear first shot at people parked next to his truck, killing one and seriously injuring the other two. He then repeatedly shot at three additional people who were in various locations in front of the clinic, killing one and injuring another.
After forcing his way into the clinic, Dear engaged in an approximately five-hour standoff with officials from several law enforcement and public safety agencies, including the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Campus Police, and the Colorado Springs Fire Department. Dear repeatedly shot at the firefighters and law enforcement officers, killing one officer and injuring four more. Ke’Arre Stewart, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and a father of two, and Jennifer Markovsky, a mother of two who grew up in Oahu, Hawaii, were accompanying friends to the clinic before they were killed. Garrett Swasey, a campus police officer at a college nearby, responded after hearing of an active shooter and was also killed. Nine others were injured.
Dear was most recently civilly committed with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen, whose office tried to prosecute Dear in state court. ‘All three victims, and this community, deserved the full measure of justice in this case, but they are now denied that possibility,’ Allen was quoted by the AP as saying. The Associated Press contributed to this report.