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DENVER AND THE WEST

Experts praise police tactical responseto Planned Parenthood shootingColorado Springs police faced unusual challenges when they faced a gunman holed upinside a Planned Parenthood clinic

By Jesse PaulThe Denver Post (mailto:jpaul@denverpost.com?subject=The Denver Post: )

POSTED: 11/30/2015 04:18:39 PM MST | UPDATED: ABOUT 22 HOURS AGO

(/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=7236042)An officer waits on the intersection of Windmill and Centennial while facing south towards the scene of a shooting November 27,2015 in Colorado Springs, CO. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

Mass shootings typically last no more than about seven minutes,but a gunman continued firing on police and others for five hoursin Friday's attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Experts say the long gun battle partly reflected the host of unusualchallenges that officers faced from a suspect(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29180458/what-we-know-about-planned-parenthood-shooting-colorado?source=pkg)whowas holed up in a building that was engineered to protectoccupants from outside danger.

Colorado Springs police initially had trouble locating the suspect(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29177795/o-8734-cers-arrive-amid-gunfire-and-chaos), emergency dispatch recordsshow, and were facing unknown danger as the gunman fired atpropane tanks placed in the parking lot outside.

"Considering the absolute insane situation, which it was, and the(improvised explosive devices), their response was incredible,"said Chris Grollnek, a Dallas-based tactical expert who has beenstudying the shooting.

Authorities saythe response

(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29180193/slain-officers-response-planned-parenthood-shootings-not-unusual?source=pkg) saved lives and prevented the tragedyfrom being worse. After a five-hour standoff, three people(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29183449/10-year-

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After clinic attack, defiantPlanned ParenthoodCEO: "We will rebuild"(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29188782/after-armed-attack-defiant-planned-parenthood-ceo-we?source=pkg)Clerical glitch causesspeculation aboutColorado Springsshooting suspect'sgender identity(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29188688/clerical-glitch-causes-speculation-about-colorado-springs-shooting?source=pkg)House Democrats seek todisband PlannedParenthood investigativepanel(http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_29188394/house-democrats-seek-disband-planned-parenthood-investigative-panel?source=pkg)McCarthy: No shutdownover Planned Parenthood(http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_29184986/mccarthy-no-shutdown-over-planned-parenthood?source=pkg)

10-year Army vet slain inPlanned Parenthoodshootings was decorated(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29183449/10-year-army-vet-slain-planned-parenthood-shootings?source=pkg)Accused PlannedParenthood shooterappears with publicdefender(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29183198/accused-planned-parenthood-shooter-

Experts praise police tactical response to Planned Parenthood shooting -... http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29184420/experts-praise-police-tact...

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army-vet-slain-planned-parenthood-shootings?source=pkg),including a police officer (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29176428/slain-officer-garrett-swaney-church-elder-father-two), were dead and 12 others were injured.

Robert Dear (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29183198/accused-planned-parenthood-shooter-set-make-first-court?source=pkg), 57, was arrested inside the clinic by tactical officers.The hulking man was clad in a white T-shirt and apparently unscathed(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29176461/police-search-planned-parenthood-clinic-following-gunman-attack).

"I personally witnessed in the command center how these officers, in the most calm andprofessional manner, dealt with this situation," Mayor John Suthers said.

"I'm absolutely convinced, watching all that, that the way the police handled themselves, that liveswere saved."

Grollnek, a former SWAT officer and co-founder of the police consulting group CGPGMG, says thesituation was unlike most shootings.

He said most gunmen stop their rampages in roughly seven minutes, rarely barricade themselvesand almost never have tactical advantages like the ones provided by the clinic.

"He could see out, (and the officers) couldn't see in," Grollnek explained. "You have a chaoticsituation with no response manual because the response manual goes out the window when thefirst shot gets fired."

Police have released few details on the attack, including the type of weapon Dear had, how manyshots were fired, a timeline of events and specifics on their response.

Emergency dispatch recordings and statements from officials have provided some insight,however, showing officers quickly limited the suspect to the Planned Parenthood(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29179745/springs-church-honors-sacrifice-officer-who-died-planned) clinic and kept him there for roughly five hours before his surrender.

Complicating the situation were wounded officers and civilians and the hundreds of bystanderswho were trapped when bullets started flying. Authorities have said they wanted to ensure thepublic's safety before engaging the suspect head-on.

"The basic recipe is containment," said Roger Clark, a police expert in San Diego. "If something(like this) is going on, you can't do anything until you have containment. And then you want towork toward decompression."

Clark said Colorado Springs officers did just that. He called them heroes who followed bestpractices by attracting gunfire toward themselves and away from others.

"When it comes down to when the rubber hits the road, you're going to get in there and save lives,"said Clark, who is an expert witness in the Cleveland police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice."Even if you're drawing fire, you're preventing him from shooting someone else."

Of the nine people who were shot and survived, four were police officers and one was a sheriff'sdeputy; the other four wounded were civilians. Three other police officers suffered unspecifiedinjuries.

Police did have one tactical advantage after they were tapped into the clinic's surveillance camerasand watched Dear's every move. At one point, the gunman sat in a chair(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29176601/mayor-planned-parenthood-gunman-was-calm-methodical) and appeared untroubled, officials said.

Just before 5 p.m., roughly five hours after the attack began, police say Dear(http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29176903/planned-parenthood-shooting-vigil-drifts-into-issues) surrendered when SWAT officers in an armored vehicle rammed their way into theclinic's front office.

"He yelled to people that he was willing to give up," Suthers said.

Michael Lyman, a professor of criminal justice at Columbia College in Missouri, says he is puzzledby the amount of time it took to arrest Dear.

"The notion of securing innocent civilians is completely valid," he said. "I think the question is:How long does it take to do that? Every minute you give the suspect could give him a chance toregroup."

Authorities say Dear was firing shots until minutes before he surrendered.

Police and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office have launched an investigation into the attack,specifically the use of force.

An FBI team was working during the weekend to map out how the encounter unfolded, federalofficials said.

Dan Montgomery, who served for 47 years as a police officer, including 25 years as Westminster'schief, said it's critical for authorities to pore over the incident to unravel what worked and whatdidn't.

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Experts praise police tactical response to Planned Parenthood shooting -... http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29184420/experts-praise-police-tact...

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He said investigators will analyze if any mistakes were made and, if so, how to mitigate those in thefuture.

"The worst thing we can do as a police officer is to not identify what was done wrong and what wasdone right," said Montgomery, who is now a police consultant. "That's incredibly important."

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul

Follow @jesseapaul 2,802 followers

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - NOVEMBER 30: Flags are at half staff outside of the El Paso County CriminalJustice Center for University of Colorado-Colorado Springs police Officer Garrett Swasey who was killed ina shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO on Friday, November ...

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Experts praise police tactical response to Planned Parenthood shooting -... http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29184420/experts-praise-police-tact...

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