US President Barack Obama denounced the epidemic of gun violence in the United States after yet another deadly shooting, saying "enough is enough".
"We have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough," Mr Obama said in a statement.
He revealed that the gunman in Colorado Springs who killed three people and wounded nine yesterday at a family planning centre had used a military-style assault rifle.
Mr Obama also disclosed for the first time that Robert Lewis Dear, arrested for the shooting, had held hostages at the abortion clinic from which he opened fire at people outside in a stand off with police.
The 57-year-old said "no more baby parts" while he was being arrested, US media have reported.
The utterance apparently referenced the organisation's health services, which include abortion, and its role in delivering fetal tissue to researchers.
"This unconscionable attack was not only a crime against the Colorado Springs community, but a crime against women receiving healthcare services at Planned Parenthood, law enforcement seeking to protect and serve, and other innocent people," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
At least eight workers at US clinics providing abortions have been killed since 1977, according to the National Abortion Federation.
The most recent was in 2009 when doctor George Tiller was shot dead at church in Wichita, Kansas.
The dead in Colorado included one police officer and two civilians, police chief Peter Carey told reporters about an hour after the suspect had been captured.
All nine surviving victims - five police officers and four civilians - were listed in good condition at area hospitals, Chief Carey said.
The suspect first engaged in a gun battle with police but ultimately surrendered to officers inside the building about five hours after the start of the violence, which played out under a steady snowfall in Colorado's second-largest city.
"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Mayor John Suthers said.
"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims ... we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer," he added.
A city police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Catherine Buckley, said it took officers a number of hours to establish communication with the suspect before he gave himself up.
"We did get officers inside the building. They were able to shout to the suspect and make communication with him and at that point they were able to get him to surrender and he was taken into custody," Lt Buckley said.
Police said progress in securing the building was slowed by the fact that the gunman brought "some bags" with him into the clinic and left several items outside, all of which needed to be checked for possible booby traps or explosives.
After the arrest, Lt Buckley said it would take hours more, and perhaps days, for investigators to fully process the crime scene.
