UPDATED: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 at 8.20 p.m. EST
At first glance, it almost looks like a normal Saturday morning in Colorado Springs. The parking lot of the shopping center at Centennial Boulevard is filled with cars. You can imagine the customers picking up a few extra groceries from King Soopers as their Thanksgiving leftovers run out, or starting the holiday shopping early at Sally Beauty Supply next door.
Then you notice that the cars are covered in snow, abandoned in a hurry and left in the cold overnight. No shoppers, just news crews and policemen. The yellow caution tape stands out against the white snow and points the way back to the Planned Parenthood clinic, where a lone gunman opened fire on Friday, killing two civilians and one police officer and injuring many more.
"We are not open to the public until later today, we don't know when. We're just trying to get our associates into the store," a mildly frantic salesperson at King Soopers says on the phone. Only hours earlier, more than 100 people were said to be bunkered down inside the grocery store, hiding from the gunshots.
Each of the other retail shops, along with the Planned Parenthood clinic, remain closed on Saturday while police investigate the crime scene. Meanwhile a stunned community studies the suspect's bearded face and crooked past for any clues for why Colorado and the rest of the country must once again grieve yet another mass shooting.
A look at the scene this am. This is the parking lot of Kings Soopers. Many cars left here. #CentennialBlshooting pic.twitter.com/oCC9Xf6fWb— Abbie Burke (@AbbieBurke21) November 28, 2015
In search of a motive
The suspect, confirmed as Robert Lewis Dear, is a 57-year-old man said to hail from across the country with previous addresses in both North and South Carolina. He had since relocated to the town of Harstel, Colorado, about 60 miles outside Colorado Springs, according to the local police department.
Dear has reportedly faced numerous criminal charges, including for animal cruelty and hiding in the bushes to peep at a woman who lived nearby, according to The New York Times. Neither of those charges ultimately stuck to him in court.
Suspect confirmed as Robert L. Dear date of birth of 4/16/1958 pic.twitter.com/4v2GtIsUgT— Springs Police (@CSPDPIO) November 28, 2015
Neighbors and those close to Dear paint the picture of a man prone to acts of physical violence, according to The Times. On at least one occasion, Dear was accused of hitting and shoving a woman thought to be his wife at the time.
Those who lived close to Dear described him as "a loner who avoided eye contact," alternatively lived in a remote cabin or trailer and whose primary companion was a "mangy dog," according to The Associated Press. Another neighbor described him to The Washington Post as a "very weird individual" who people "had to watch out for."
Law enforcement has yet to uncover a motive behind the Planned Parenthood shooting.
“People are being interviewed... Over time we’ll learn more and more about potential motives," John Suthers, the mayor of Colorado Springs, said during a press conference Saturday about efforts to find a motive. In an earlier statement, Suthers suggested people could make "inferences from where it took place."
When pressed to list what information they know about the suspect, police chief Peter Carey said simply: "I know his name. I know he's 57 years old. And that's it."
Police sources told NBC that after being taken into custody, the alleged perpetrator said "no more baby parts" about the Planned Parenthood shooting. However, the sources emphasised the reference was only one of many statement Dear had given -- he also mentioned President Barack Obama, at one point.
A weary nation reacts to yet another shooting
"This is not normal," President Obama said in a heartfelt statement released early Saturday morning. "We can't let it become normal."
Throughout his presidency, Obama has been forced to issue more than a dozen public statements about mass shootings on U.S. soil. Each statement touches on the horror and heartbreak of the lives lost -- and, increasingly, stresses the need to re-think our gun policies as these incidents do not happen with the same frequency in other countries.
But this marked the first time Obama had to give such a statement on Thanksgiving weekend.
"The last thing Americans should have to do, over the holidays or any day, is comfort the families of people killed by gun violence," Obama said in his remarks, before concluding, "Enough is enough."
President Obama, on the mass shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs pic.twitter.com/hVXdusZWuH— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) November 28, 2015
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has dealt with multiple shoots in the state during his brief tenure, echoed the president's sentiment but stressed that now is not the right time for him and other legislators to have a discussion over the politics of the situation.
"There aren’t words to describe the feeling that you hear something like this is happening," Hickenlooper said during the press conference on Saturday, before adding that the country will need to "address issues of violence" in the community. "The key here is I don’t think this is the time to have that discussion. Right now our job is to be here 100% for the mayor, the police chief, the fire chief, all the first responders and the entire community... The time will come when we can sit down and roll up our sleeves."
Later on Saturday, the Colorado Springs community will gather and mourn at two vigils throughout the day. The events are expected to draw hundreds and bring together religious and civic leaders, as well as Planned Parenthood supporters.
"We will be gathering to mourn those killed, to honor survivors and first responders, and all those impacted by the violence," reads a Facebook event for one of the vigils, scheduled at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. "And to stand strongly together in support of Planned Parenthood and in ending the violence."