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Suspect in Planned Parenthood shooting makes court appearance

Trevor Hughes
USA TODAY

COLORADO SPRINGS — The man accused in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic that left three dead, including a police officer, stared woodenly ahead and spoke only briefly during a short court appearance Monday.

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 30:  A police officer from the counterterrorism department stands guard outside Planned Parenthood on November 30, 2015 in New York City. A gunman killed three people November 27, including a police officer, at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Robert L. Dear Jr. is being held without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with Friday's nearly five-hour attack and standoff. He surrendered to police after they crashed two armored SWAT vehicles through the clinic's front entrance. Dear wore a padded vest during his appearance, his hair and beard unkempt.

"No questions," Dear told Chief Judge Gilbert Martinez during the 13-minute court hearing in which he was advised of his rights and asked if he understood the process.

There was no discussion of a possible motive during the hearing.

Martinez appointed the Colorado Public Defender's Office to represent Dear. Appearing with the defendant on Monday was Dan King, the public defender who earlier this year persuaded a jury to spare the life of Aurora, Colo. movie theater killer James Holmes.

Robert Dear, right, appears via video before Judge Gilbert Martinez,  with public defender Dan King, at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

District Attorney Dan May said his office has not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty in this case. Federal prosecutors could also bring federal charges against Dear.

Killed in Friday's shooting were police officer Garrett Swasey, Army veteran Ke'Arre Marcell Stewart and Jennifer Markovsky. All three were parents.

Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation opened Monday with leaders vowing to provide care for women "no matter what."

The Colorado Springs clinic remained closed Monday as the investigation continued.

"Across the country, (Planned Parenthood) health centers are opening this morning," the Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a statement. "With heads high and heavy hearts, (Planned Parenthood) staff provide care — no matter what."

The attack has further fanned rhetoric about abortion and gun control in the United States, and abortion rights groups on Monday called upon Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate the attack as domestic terror.

"These recent attacks on clinics are part of a long history of ideologically driven clinic violence," the group Pro-Choice America wrote in a letter to Lynch. "These despicable attacks on trusted women's health care providers are not just acts of hatred and violence but acts of domestic terrorism, and we urge the Department of Justice to treat them as such."

The National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence released a statement Monday saying the group mourned the loss of Dear's victims.

"As gun violence devastates community after community, and active shooter incidents occur again and again with greater frequency, it is imperative that we address this problem now," partnership chairman Jim Johnson, the police chief in Maryland's Baltimore County, said in a statement. "We must do much more to keep guns from those intent on doing harm."

Vice President Joe Biden also issued a statement mourning the deaths and calling for political leaders to "force a concensus" and take action.

"It's time for our political system to catch up with the overwhelming majority of the American people who want background checks, who want to keep assault weapons off our streets and out of the hands of people who have no business firing them," Biden said. "We've done it before. We must do it again. Enough is enough."

A Planned Parenthood office is seen on November 30, 2015 in New York City.

Leyonte Chandler told NBC News that Stewart, Chandler's brother, had stepped outside the clinic to make a phone call when he was shot. Chandler said Stewart ran back inside to help those trapped inside.

"I believe that's his military instinct, you know: Leave no soldier behind, leave no civilian behind, just leave no one behind," Chandler said. "And before his time ran out I guess that was his main priority ... to help and save other lives."

Swasey, a police officer, had responded to a call that a gunman had swept into the building. Figure skater and Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan, who trained with Swasey when they were children, said Swasey was like a brother to her. Swasey's family released a statement saying: "Helping others brought him deep satisfaction and being a police officer was a part of him. In the end his last act was for the safety and well-being of others and was a tribute to his life."

John Ah-King told The Denver Post his daughter, Markovsky, was "the most lovable person. So kind-hearted, just always there when I needed her."

In a statement, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said: "When people's stories end tragically, we all ask the same question: 'Why do horrible things happen to such good people?' As we grieve Ke'Arre, Jennifer, and Garrett, and as we tell their stories, we must remind ourselves of one thing: In Colorado and in the world, there will always be more good people than bad ones. Let us be lifted by their stories as we carry the good forward."

Dear is due back in court next Wednesday to face a formal filing of charges. May said it may be several months before his office decides whether it will pursue the death penalty.

Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; Follow Trevor Hughes on Twitter: @TrevorHughes

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