New York-area increase security in response to Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs
New York-area police are increasing security at Planned Parenthood clinics in response to a shooting at a facility in Colorado Springs Friday.
The NYPD has said there have been no specific reports of any threats to local Planned Parenthood clinics in New York.
"We're contacting these facilities to gather any intelligence and to observe the way out of the locations," said Suffolk County police Deputy Commissioner Tim Sini, CBS New York reports.
A gunman opened fire outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs before barricading himself in the clinic. At least 11 people were wounded, including five police officers.
The suspect surrendered to police after a roughly five-hour standoff.
While the gunman's motive remains unknown, law enforcement has been concerned for the last several months about people targeting reproductive health care facilities, specifically Planned Parenthood locations across the country.
As CBS News first reported in September, an FBI intelligence bulletin went out to law enforcement agencies nationwide with that warning. It came as Congress was debating Planned Parenthood funding and on the heels of the release of a series of videos by Center for Medical Progress that purported to show Planned Parenthood doctors discussing the harvesting of fetal tissue from abortions.
The intelligence bulletin warned of "lone offenders using tactics of arsons and threats all of which are typical of the pro-life extremist movement."
At that time there had already been nine criminal or suspicious incidents in seven states and the District of Columbia.
In one incident in August, someone poured gasoline on a New Orleans Planned Parenthood security guard's car and set the vehicle on fire. According to the FBI, there was another incident in July in Aurora, Colorado in which someone poured gasoline around the entrance of a Planned Parenthood facility, also causing a fire.