The man arrested for killing three in Colorado on Friday faced several charges for animal cruelty and “eavesdropping or peeping” in 2002.
The 57-year-old gunman, Robert Lewis Dear, faced the charges in Colleton County, S.C. They included two counts of animal cruelty and one count of eavesdropping, according to court documents. However, all of the charges were dismissed.
Dear allegedly killed three people over the course of a standoff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs on Friday, including one police officer, before surrendering. Authorities did not immediately release information on what may have prompted the incident.
“We don’t have any information on this individual’s mentality, or his ideas or ideology,” Colorado Springs Police Lt. Catherine Buckley told the media.
However, Democrats have been quick to use the incident to urge support for Planned Parenthood. “Today and every day, we #StandWithPP,” Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Twitter Friday.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2577206
Today and every day, we #StandWithPP. https://t.co/oifqTQLx1X
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 27, 2015
The Colorado Springs police department identified the officer killed as 44-year-old Garrett Swasey. Swasey served as a co-pastor at Hope Chapel Church, according to a biography posted on the church’s website, and had two children. A candlelight vigil is scheduled for this evening, and a crowdfunding page has been established for his family.
