In the early morning hours of October 31 the tranquility of downtown Colorado Springs was interrupted by multiple shootings in which three innocents were killed before Colorado Springs Police were able to kill the gunman in a shootout.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that just before 9 a.m. residents who heard the gunshots looked out their windows to see a man with a rifle. A 21-year-old witness named Matt Abshire said the gunman “shot a person on Prospect Street and two more near El Paso Street.”
Police had been called and arrived to confront the gunman just after he had shot the two individuals near El Paso Street. Once confronted, the man began to fire at police and was killed. No details on the gunman nor possible motives have been released.
These multiple attacks in Colorado Springs occurred approximately two and a half years after Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed multiple gun controls into law in reaction to the July 2012 Aurora theater attack and the December 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary. Among the laws signed were universal background checks, a ban on “high capacity” ammunition magazines, and new rules on how long a gun can be out of the owner’s possession before another background check is required for him or her to get it back.
Hickenlooper signed the gun controls against the advice of numerous sheriffs in his state and as he did, Politico reported that Democratic Rep. Rhonda Fields looked on and said, “I am happy the governor is signing common-sense legislation that reduces gun violence in our communities by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, domestic violence offenders and the seriously mentally ill.”
by Awr Hawkins
