By Corcoran O’Leary
On Nov. 27 Colorado suffered another major shooting spree, this time taking place outside of a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs.
After the initial shooting and the five hour standoff that occurred at a nearby grocery store, a police officer and two civilians were killed, as well as another nine injured.
After the stand-off, the police successfully coerced the shooter, Robert Lewis Dear Jr. into surrendering. He is now held in police custody. Not only does this spark more controversy about gun-control laws but it also shows the controversy as abortion laws. The shooter, Robert Lewis Dear Jr. is a 57 year-old male and was strongly opposed to abortion. In an interview, his ex-wife confirmed that he had a history of violent behavior, as well as being obsessed with the world coming to end. He identified as Christian and some speculate the attack was fueled by his religious beliefs that abortion is sinful. On Nov. 30 Dear was charged with murder in the first degree, which, if convicted, could lead to a life sentence or the death penalty.
Six days after the Colorado Springs shooting, another shooting took place in San Bernardino, California.On Dec. 2 Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple, targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health holiday party that was taking place inside a rented banquet room. There were roughly 80 people in attendance. Farook was in attendance at the event, before leaving and returning with Malik at 10:59 AM and open firing on those in attendance. The entire shooting lasted about four minutes and killed 14 civilians while injuring 23 others.
The couple fled in an SUV which the police tracked down. After attempting to flee i the car, the perpetrators opened fired at the police in pursuit. The police fired back, and within a minute, both of the perpetrators were dead.
On Dec. 6, President Obama declared the shooting as an act of terrorism. Neither of the perpetrators were on the terrorist watch list or had a criminal record. Investigation uncovered that the attack was Daesh inspired and a post on Facebook that showed Malik pledging her allegiance to the leader of The Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant. It is the largest Daesh-inspired attack to take place in the United States.
