On November 27, 2015, Robert Dear, 67, launched a violent attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, reportedly with the intent of waging ‘war’ against the facility, which he viewed as an institution providing abortion services. The suspect arrived armed with an array of weapons, including four SKS rifles, five handguns, two additional rifles, a shotgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, and several propane tanks. The attack began with Dear shooting at people parked near his truck, killing one and seriously injuring another. He then moved to the clinic entrance, where he engaged in a five-hour standoff with law enforcement agencies, including the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and the University of Colorado—Colorado Springs Campus Police. During the confrontation, Dear fired at firefighters and police officers, killing one officer and injuring four others.
Ke’Arre Stewart, a 29-year-old Army veteran who had served in Iraq and was a father of two, and Jennifer Markovsky, a 36-year-old mother of two from Oahu, Hawaii, were among the victims who were killed by Dear while accompanying friends to the clinic. Garrett Swasey, a campus police officer at a nearby college, was also killed as he responded to the scene. In addition to the three fatalities, nine others were injured in the attack. The incident left the community and the victims’ families grappling with the loss, with the district attorney’s office stating that the victims and the community were denied the full measure of justice as the suspect’s case was stalled by legal challenges over his mental health competency.
Dear’s case became mired in a legal battle over whether he could be medicated against his will to address his mental illness, which he had been diagnosed with. Throughout the process, Dear was repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial, which delayed his prosecution for the shooting. In 2019, he was officially charged in federal court for the attack, and he was eventually committed under civil proceedings by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to the district attorney’s office. His death in federal custody in 2024 has ended the long-standing legal battle and closed the case, though the victims’ families and the affected community continue to seek closure and justice for the tragedy that occurred in 2015.