Officers injured while responding to active shooter in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – Police were searching for a gunman Friday who opened fire near a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.

At least four officers were injured but it was not known if anyone else was wounded in the attack, authorities said.

Police Lt. Catherine Buckley said authorities also did not know where the gunman was located or whether the shooter had taken any hostages.

“We can’t confirm where the shooter is at this point,” she said.

Asked if the shooter had taken hostages, Buckley told reporters: “There is that possibility. There are a lot of possibilities with this scenario.”

Authorities received a call of shots being fired at the Planned Parenthood clinic before noon.

Responding officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, Buckley said, adding that it was not known if the shooting had any connection to Planned Parenthood.

Denise Speller, manager of a nearby hair salon, said she heard as many as 20 gunshots in the span of less than five minutes.

She told The Gazette newspaper that she saw a police cruiser and two officers near a Chase Bank branch, not far from the Planned Parenthood facility.

One of the officers appeared to fall to the ground and the other office knelt down to help and then tried to get the officer to safety behind the car, she said. Another officer told Speller to seek shelter inside the building.

“We’re still pretty freaked out,” Speller said by phone. “We can’t stop shaking. For now we’re stuck back here not knowing.”

Ambulances and police vehicles were lined up at the nearby intersection and police told people via Twitter to stay away from the shooting scene because it was not secure.

Mike Pelosi, who works at a deli at a nearby King Sooper grocery store, said he heard over the store’s loudspeaker just before noon that nobody could leave the store.

Pelosi said customers and store employees were confused about what was going on but not panicked. He said a couple dozen customers were standing near the store entrance waiting for instructions.

The Planned Parenthood clinic is located next to a medical office building and near a shopping complex that included the King Sooper and other stores and restaurants.