Officer Killed In The Planned Parenthood Shooting Remembered As Kind And Courageous

A police officer and two civilians were killed when a gunman stormed a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic Friday.

David Zalubowski / AP

Nine others were injured with gunshot wounds, including five officers. The suspect has been named by police officers as Robert L Dear, 57. He is in custody.

So far, only the police officer killed in the line of duty has been named.

BuzzFeed News will update this post with information on the civilian victims as more information becomes available.

Garrett Swasey, 44, Colorado Springs

University of Colorado Colorado Springs / Via pressreleases.uccs.edu

Officer Swasey was a six-year veteran of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs' police department.

In a statement, university chancellor Pam Shockley Zalabak said: "It is with great sadness that I share that the tragic events today at the offices of Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs have touched the campus of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs."

University of Colorado President Bruce Benson also released a statement mourning Swasey.

Hope Chapel

"The CU community mourns the tragic loss of Officer Garrett Swasey of UCCS. Our thoughts, prayers are with Rachel, their children and family," Benson said.

Swasey is survived by his wife, Rachel; a son, Elijah; and a daughter, Faith.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Swasey grew up in Massachusetts and was a champion ice-skater during the 1990s. He was also an elder in northeast Colorado Springs church Hope Chapel.

According to the church website, he helped oversee the church's care groups in addition to "sharing his teaching gift as part of the teaching team and sharing his guitar skills on the worship team."

A co-pastor at the church, Scott Dontanville, told the New York Times that Swasey would "disagree with the abortion industry...I don’t think that was on his mind. He was there to save lives. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

A memorial fund has been set up for his family by friends and a public vigils were scheduled to be held.

“He was kind,” his mother told the Washington Post in a phone interview. “He wasn’t arrogant or selfish, and I wish people could hear more about that, about how caring the police really are.”

Early on Saturday morning fellow police officers and other first responders held a procession and escorted the body of Officer Swasey from the crime scene.

President Obama also praised the slain officer's valor in a statement on Saturday. “May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save — and may He grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing," Obama said.

On Saturday night, more than 200 university students, Colorado Springs residents, fellow officers, and church members gathered for a candlelight vigil to remember Swasey.

Campus police chief Brian McPike described Swasey as an athletic, enthusiastic police officer who always walked into a room with a smile on his face. McPike had known Swasey before becoming chief and recommended him when he applied for the police job.

"He will never be forgotten," McPike said.

Whenever a difficult situation arose, McPike said Swasey was willing to go. Over the last days, in talking with Swasey's wife Rachel, she told him she knew there was no way her husband wouldn't respond to the shooting.

"He knew the risks," McPike said, "and he loved what he did."

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed

Though he was passionate about serving as an officer, Swasey would not want to be defined only by his profession, said Kurt Aichele, a pastor at Hope Chapel.

Swasey saw himself first as a follower of Jesus Christ, and his faith inspired his love of his family and service to his community, Aichele said.

Swasey was one of his closest friends — the two men had known each other for 10 years — and the loss was a difficult one.

"And yet I celebrate that tonight Garrett is united with Christ," Aichele said.

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed

Aichele and fellow pastor Dontanville prayed for the community and also for forgiveness of the gunman.

"Garrett would tell you tonight that forgiveness extends to him," Dontanville said.

At a gathering earlier in the day, he and other church members prayed with Rachel Swasey. She reminded them that her husband was in heaven.

"It's the beginning of his watch," Dontanville said, shaking his head at the traditional phrase, end of watch, used to honor fallen police officers. "It didn't end here for him."

This post will be updated as the victims of the shooting are identified.

SOURCE: BuzzFeed