It is not known if anyone else has been wounded in the attack on the clinic in Colorado Springs, authorities said.
Police Lieutenant Catherine Buckley said authorities also did not know where the gunman was located or whether the shooter had taken any hostages.
“We can’t confirm where the shooter is at this point,” she said.
Asked if the shooter had taken hostages, Buckley told reporters: “There is that possibility. There are a lot of possibilities with this scenario.”
Authorities received a call of shots being fired at the Planned Parenthood clinic before noon. Planned Parenthood is a national women’s health care providers that offers abortions at some clinics.
News footage from the scene showed a sheriff’s department SWAT team with an armoured vehicle arriving at what an officer said was an ongoing situation.
“A police operation is still under way,” a police source in Colorado Springs said, adding that “multiple” people had been shot, apparently from outside the building.
“Responding to call of active shooter ... the area is NOT secure,” police said in a tweet, urging residents to steer clear of the area during the operation.
Mike Pelosi, who works at a deli at a nearby King Sooper grocery store, said he heard over the store’s loudspeaker just before noon that nobody could leave the store.
Pelosi said customers and store employees were confused about what was going on but not panicked. He said a couple of dozen customers were standing near the store entrance waiting for instructions.
Abortion is one of the services provided for women by Planned Parenthood and the association has become an lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.
