Shooting in US; at least three dead, 11 injured

Photo: AP

Los Angeles: At least three people, including a police officer, were killed and 11 injured in a standoff with a gunman in the US state of Colorado, police said.

The Colorado attorney general termed the deaths as "tragic", Xinhua news agency reported. 

Five police officers are among the injured, police chief Pete Carey told a press conference. 

Police have determined that the unidentified objects the shooter brought into the building did not contain explosives, the chief said.

"There's no continuing peril to the city of Colorado Springs," Mayor John Suthers said in a statement following the apprehension of the gunman.

The attacker entered the building shortly before noon and was detained around 5 p.m.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation by his national security staff, the White House said during the standoff.

"We don't yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and we don't yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack," Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains where the standoff occurred, said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood is a clinic that offers a range of women's health services.