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Robert Dear, Accused in 2015 Colorado Planned Parenthood Shooting, Dies in Federal Custody at 67

11:47 PM, 11/26/2025
Robert Dear, Accused in 2015 Colorado Planned Parenthood Shooting, Dies in Federal Custody at 67

Robert Dear, 67, the man charged in the Nov. 27, 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that killed three and injured nine, has died in federal custody. Reports indicate he died while receiving treatment at a federal prison medical center in Springfield, Missouri; authorities confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. Dear had repeatedly been ruled mentally unfit to stand trial after evaluations diagnosed him with a paranoid delusional disorder, and he remained in custody since the attack.

Robert Dear dies while in federal custody

Robert Dear, 67, the man charged in the Nov. 27, 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that left three people dead and nine wounded, has died while in federal custody, according to federal inmate records and multiple media reports.

Records indicate Dear died while receiving treatment at a federal prison medical facility in Springfield, Missouri. Several outlets reported the death was from natural causes; a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Dear's death but declined to disclose the cause or additional details.

Incident and charges

Dear was charged with killing three people and injuring nine others during the attack on the clinic on Nov. 27, 2015. The shooting prompted a nearly six-hour standoff with law enforcement before officers breached the building and took him into custody after using an armored vehicle to help evacuate 24 people who remained inside.

According to a search-warrant affidavit, Dear told police he attacked the clinic because he was "upset" about Planned Parenthood performing abortions and because he believed the organization was "selling baby parts." He had publicly described himself as a 'warrior for the babies.'

Victims

  • Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, an Army veteran and father of two
  • Jenifer Markovsky, 36, a mother of two who was at the clinic with friends
  • Garrett Swasey, a campus police officer who responded to reports of an active shooter

Mental health findings and legal proceedings

Dear remained in custody from the day of the shooting and was repeatedly found mentally unfit to stand trial. In 2016, state courts determined he was mentally unfit after evaluations by state-appointed psychologists diagnosed him with a paranoid delusional disorder and concluded he could not grasp the facts or reality of his case. Federal prosecutors later pursued charges, but a U.S. district judge again ruled in 2021 that he was unfit to stand trial.

This development closes a long-running chapter in a case that drew national attention for both the brutality of the attack and the subsequent legal and mental-health determinations. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed the death but has not released further information on the cause or circumstances.

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