Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in an overnight Wednesday fire that police believe was deliberately set - possibly by someone seen running away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag.
The blaze damaged the inside of the building under renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.
The clinic, which also planned to provide other health care services for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to offer abortions. Wyoming's current lone location for women to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.
A person who called authorities before dawn saw someone running away from the building who was carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No injuries were reported.
Julie Burkhart, the clinic's director, said clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The building had video cameras that were functioning and police were given access to them, she said.
Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents at the future clinic site and signs opposing abortion were visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.
Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states that would outlaw abortion if the Roe v Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will happen soon.
The new Wyoming clinic was being launched by Burkhart, a former associate Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas church in 2009.
Police closed off the street where the small building is located as officers investigated. Several of the building's windows were broken and smoke damage was visible around one broken window.