National

(NEW YORK) — Nearly one year after the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, that killed 98 people, federal investigators said Thursday that there are “many factors” that likely contributed to the failure.

During an online presentation to the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee, one of the lead federal investigators, Glenn Bell, said the National Institute of Standards and Technology has not “ruled out any scenarios” and currently has “about two dozen hypotheses” that are being “actively considered” in its ongoing investigation.

None of the hypotheses is considered a “leading theory” at this point, he said.

Champlain Towers South, a 13-story oceanfront residential building in Miami-Dade County, partially collapsed overnight on June 24, 2021. The rest of the building was demolished 10 days later due to concerns over structural integrity.

“I’ve been investigating and studying structural failures for over 40 years and I can say that this investigation is one of the most difficult and complex of its type ever undertaken,” Bell told the committee.

Bell said that even after nearly a year of analysis, there remains no “clear initiating event” that triggered the failure. He pointed to several possibilities that NIST is investigating, including the corrosion of the reinforcing steel in the plaza slab of the building, and the possible impact of the construction of a neighboring condo building.

Other possibilities Bell mentioned are the possible impact of climate change that may have affected the foundation of the oceanfront structure, and the construction of a penthouse that exceeded local height restrictions.

Bell said NIST is also reviewing public and private recordings related to the building, and conducting interviews with people who have knowledge of the design and construction practices that were prevalent in South Florida at the time of building’s construction.

“Why did the structure stand and then partially collapse after 40 years? What changed in the loading and/or the strength of the structure? There are no clear answers to these questions either,” Bell said.

At the end of the investigation, NIST plans to publish a written report and create several “realistic animations” to convey their findings.

The agency does not yet have a timeline for when the investigation will be concluded.

“The entire team is driven and committed to getting to the bottom of what happened at Champlain Towers South,” said Dr. Judith Mitrani-Reiser, NIST’s associate chief of materials and structural systems. “After we determine the causes of collapse, we will prepare recommendations for codes, standards, and practices, and any continued research indicated by our findings, so that a disaster like this never happens again.”

Last month, lawyers announced a proposed settlement reached for families of those who died in Champlain Towers South would exceed $1 billion.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(Centerville, Texas) — Five family members believed to have been killed by an escaped inmate in their Texas vacation home last week were fatally shot and stabbed, cause of death reports show.

Four children and their grandfather were found murdered at the family’s ranch in Centerville, located between Dallas and Houston, on June 2 after a relative contacted law enforcement to do a welfare check, authorities said.

An escaped inmate, who was killed in a shootout with police hours after the family’s bodies were discovered by law enforcement, is believed to have broken into the home and committed the murders, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Brothers Waylon Collins, 18, Carson Collins, 16, and Hudson Collins, 11, of Tomball, were killed, along with their cousin, 11-year-old Bryson Collins, and grandfather, 66-year-old Mark Collins.

All five victims were shot and had stab wounds or sharp force injuries, cause of death records released this week show. Mark Collins’ injuries included a shotgun wound to the abdomen, his report noted.

They died on June 2 and their manner of death was ruled as homicide by the medical examiner with the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences at Dallas.

Visitation for the Collins family will be Friday evening at Houston Northwest Church in Houston. The family members will then all be laid to rest Saturday morning.

“These precious people who loved and were loved by so many will never be forgotten,” the Collins family said in a statement last week. “The impact on their family and friends cannot be overstated.”

The four boys, who attended Tomball Independent School District, were active in sports, including football and baseball. The eldest brother, Waylon, had recently graduated high school.

Their pastor described the family as having “the greatest character, the deepest faith and unrelenting kindness and love.”

“I was honored to sit with the family last night and this morning again for several hours and the characteristic that continued to jump out was unrelenting faith,” Steve Bezner, a senior pastor at Houston Northwest Church, told reporters during a press briefing last week at the church. “They did not understand — why none of us can understand why. But they continue to say we trust that God is good. And we know that he is with us in the midst of these circumstances.”

The family’s ranch in Leon County was near where the inmate — convicted murderer Gonzalo Lopez — had escaped on May 12.

Following the discovery of the murders, Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted a pickup truck stolen from the ranch that Lopez, 46, was believed to be driving. The suspect was killed in an ensuing shootout with law enforcement, authorities said.

Investigators were seen at the ranch on Thursday. Further information on the case is not being released at this time, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the investigation, told ABC News.

A massive manhunt had been underway for Lopez after he managed to break free from custody near Centerville while being transported from Gatesville to Huntsville for a medical appointment on May 12, authorities said. He was added to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List and a $50,000 reward was issued for his capture.

Lopez was serving a life sentence for a capital murder in Hidalgo County and an attempted capital murder in Webb County.

This week, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it was temporarily suspending inmate transports while it conducts a review of its procedures in the wake of Lopez’s escape.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(Grand Rapids, Mich.) — Michigan police officer Christopher Schurr appeared in court Friday to be arraigned for the killing of Patrick Lyoya. Lyoya, 26, was shot in the back of the head after Schurr pulled him over on April 4 for an unregistered license plate.

Schurr, who turned himself in Thursday, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The judge set Schurr’s bond at $100,000 cash surety, with conditions. Schurr, an officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department, will not be allowed to purchase or posses any firearms or dangerous weapons; he must report to court services; and he is not allowed to engage in any assaults, threatening or intimidating behavior, according to the judge.

Schurr was charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Lyoya during the April traffic stop, Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker announced Thursday.

If found guilty, Schurr could face up to life in prison.

Schurr’s lawyers were in the courtroom, but Schurr himself appeared remotely.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom told ABC News Thursday that he would be filing paperwork before the end of the day to suspend Schurr without pay.

Body camera footage of the traffic stop, released by police, showed Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was shot by an officer following a struggle outside a house in Grand Rapids.

The footage shows Schurr struggling with Lyoya, eventually forcing him to the ground and shouting, “Stop resisting,” “let go” and “drop the Taser,” before shooting him. Lyoya was shot in the back of the head, according to the Kent County medical examiner.

Police said Lyoya had grabbed at the officer’s stun gun during the altercation.

“The evidence in this case will show that the death of Patrick Lyoya was not murder but an unfortunate tragedy, resulting from a highly volatile situation,” Schurr’s lawyers, Mark Dodge and Matthew Borgula, said in a statement to Grand Rapids ABC affiliate WZZM. “Mr. Lyoya continually refused to obey lawful commands and ultimately disarmed a police officer. Mr. Lyoya gained full control of a police officer’s weapon while resisting arrest, placing Officer Schurr in fear of great bodily harm or death. We are confident that after a jury hears all of the evidence, Officer Schurr will be exonerated.”

ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd and Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, have bound in tragedy and trauma two communities of color – one Black, one Latino. Now, members of those communities are exploring potential paths forward to healing and reform.

In the ABC News Live special “Guns in America: From Buffalo to Uvalde” ABC News contributor María Elena Salinas spoke to those suffering as they work to recover after the shootings that took 31 lives just 10 days apart.

Vincent Salazar’s only granddaughter, Layla Salazar, 11, was killed in the May 24 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with 18 of her classmates and two teachers. He and the families and friends of other victims are devastated by the loss of their loved ones.

“The fact that my child, my granddaughter, was killed the way she was killed is one thing. What it did to the community; it didn’t break their hearts, it shattered the hearts of Uvalde.”

Salazar says the community has been looking for answers to how a tragedy like this has happened yet again.

“I want to know how come this hasn’t been fixed since the Columbine shootings?” he asked, referring to the April 20, 1999, shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Colorado, where seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher.

According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s K-12 School Shooting Database there have been over 900 shooting-related incidents in schools since 1999.

“We need to take some kind of action and have some kind of responsibility and control of what we’re doing,” Salazar, a gun owner who recently started a petition for gun reform that got more than 50,000 signatures in one day, said.

Pastor Dwayne Jones of Mount Aaron Missionary Baptist Church in Buffalo, a former law enforcement officer, echoed Salazar’s sentiments, saying the recent shootings in both Buffalo and Uvalde have weighed heavily on him. Jones knew the victims of the May 14 mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, Tops Friendly Market.

Authorities are calling the massacre that left 10 dead and 3 others injured a racially motivated hate crime. A grand jury indicted shooting suspect and alleged white supremacist Payton Gendron, 18, on 25 charges including 10 counts of first degree murder and one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate.

“This community in Buffalo, New York, where it was located at the supermarket, was the only supermarket in that geographical area. He purposely picked out this one location to hurt Black and Brown individuals,” Jones said.

Jones said he believes that people should continue to have a right to own weapons, but sees a problem with civilian access to AR-style guns like those used to carry out the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.

“I believe that the government needs to do more about these weapons of that mass level that’s out there,” he said. “I really feel for what happened in Texas. Those were very innocent, innocent kids. And I don’t think there’s anything we can say that could move the hurt from Texas or Buffalo, but we can do something where this won’t happen again.”

Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat representing the 20th District of Texas 80 miles from Uvalde, spoke to the growing calls for action from government officials.

“Americans are enraged because they keep seeing things like what happened in Uvalde and Buffalo happen over and over and over again,” he told ABC News.

Castro sees widespread support for universal background checks, ‘red flag laws’ and raised age restrictions as a step in the right direction, but says it will take unified commitment to see the change that so many have been waiting for.

Last week, President Biden addressed the nation on gun violence, urging Congress to pass “commonsense measures” on gun control. On Wednesday, the House passed “Protecting Our Kids Act”, a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing semi-automatic firearms from 18 to 21 and further regulate weapons often referred to as ‘ghost guns’.

“It’s clear that there hasn’t been the kind of legislation that people want to see. I do believe that it’s possible to have change,” he said. “It’s possible for elected officials to actually do something. But they have to have the political and the moral courage to put the lives of Americans above their own political futures.”

ABC News’ Poh Si Teng and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(UVALDE, Texas) — Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo has broken his silence since the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School and is defending the police response to the mass shooting that saw 19 children and two teachers killed.

Arredondo — who was sworn in as a city council member in late May — told The Texas Tribune he didn’t consider himself the commanding officer on the scene that day, and he also claimed no one told him about the 911 calls that came in during the 77 minutes before the gunman was taken down.

This comes after a new report in the New York Times describes a briefing to state officials that “more than a dozen of the 33 children and three teachers originally in the two classrooms remained alive during the 1 hour and 17 minutes” from when the shooting began to when officers initially entered.

According to an official interviewed by the Times, “investigators have been working to determine whether any of those who died could have been saved if they received medical attention sooner.” At least one teacher and three children reportedly died after being evacuated from the school.

Arredondo claimed he didn’t bring his radios with him because time was of the essence and he said the radios would get in his way, and he wanted to have his hands free, telling The Texas Tribune one had a whiplike antenna that hit him when he ran, and one had a clip he said would cause it to fall off his tactical belt during a long run.

The chief also told The Tribune the radios didn’t work in some school buildings, which he said he knew from experience.

Arredondo said he teamed up with a Uvalde police officer when he arrived on the scene and began checking classrooms, searching for the suspected shooter.

“Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children,” Arredondo told The Texas Tribune. “We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced. Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.”

However, state investigators, according to a preliminary assessment, believe the decision to delay police entry into the Robb Elementary School classroom was made in order to allow time for protective gear to arrive on scene, an official briefed on a closed-door presentation by the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety told ABC News.

Waiting for protective gear contradicts active shooter protocols that have been adopted by law enforcement agencies across the country in the last 20 years.

The DPS information is based, in part, on transcripts from 911 calls, dispatch audio and body camera recordings. The review is ongoing and the DPS preliminary findings have not been made public.

The official confirmed to ABC News that Arredondo appeared to be aware police needed to move faster as shots were being fired in two classrooms.

“People are going to ask why we’re taking so long,” according to one of the transcripts, as relayed by the official to ABC News. The statement is believed by investigators to have been uttered by Arredondo during the 77 minute rampage.

At 11:35 a.m. on May 24, three Uvalde Police Department officers entered the school using the same door as the shooter, which had not locked upon being closed. Law enforcement is looking into why the door did not lock.Those officers were later followed by three other Uvalde police officers and a county deputy sheriff, authorities said.

A total of seven officers were in the school and two sustained “grazing wounds” from the gunman, who fired down the hallway from behind a closed door, according to Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

At 12:03, a 911 call was made from classroom 112, according to McCraw. That person called back at 12:10 p.m. and said there were multiple people dead in the classroom. The 911 caller made another call at 12:13 p.m., according to McCraw.

In a portion of a videotape obtained by ABC News from outside of Robb Elementary School, what appears to be a police radio dispatcher details a 911 call from a student inside room 112 who describes a room “full of victims” at about 12:13 p.m.

Arredondo claimed he wasn’t aware of the 911 calls because he didn’t have his radio, and that the other officers in the hallway did not have radio communications. He also said if they had radios they would have been off to avoid alerting the gunman about their location.

He found no way to enter the classroom, called for a SWAT team from his cellphone and then waited in the hallway, according to The Texas Tribune.

However, the chief also claims he didn’t give orders not to breach the doors.

“I didn’t issue any orders,” Arredondo said. “I called for assistance and asked for an extraction tool to open the door.”

At 12:16 p.m., the 911 caller called again and said eight to nine students are still alive, according to McCraw.

The 911 caller inside room 112 called at 12:43 p.m. and asked for police to be sent in, according to McCraw. That caller again asked for police to be sent in at 12:47 p.m., McCraw said.

Officers from the Border Patrol tactical unit breached the classroom door using a set of keys acquired from a school janitor at 12:50 p.m. Officers shot and killed the gunman in classroom 111, sources told ABC News.

A janitor first brought six keys, then eventually brought a set of 20-30 keys to the chief, The Texas Tribune reported.

“Each time I tried a key I was just praying,” Arredondo told the outlet.

ABC News has reached out to Arredondo’s attorney.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The supermarket in Buffalo, New York, where a gunman opened fire killing 10 Black people last month, could reopen by the end of July, a representative for Tops Friendly Market confirmed to ABC News Thursday. Three people were also wounded in the shooting.

Reporters had asked Tops President John Persons what the timeline for reopening the Buffalo store is, and he told them the “hope is for the end of July,” Tops told ABC News.

New York authorities alleged the shooting was a “racially motivated hate crime,” carried out by a heavily armed white teenager.

According to a prosecutor, the alleged gunman is the first person in state history to be charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate. He faces a total of 25 counts, including 10 counts of first-degree murder.

Persons told reporters the store was emptied out of its product and equipment, and when the store reopens, it will be completely remodeled with a different feel and look, according to ABC local affiliate WKBW-TV.

“Our effort has been towards trying to reopen the store as soon as possible and we will do it in a respectful way. We will do it properly,” Persons said at the event, according to WKBW.

Persons also told reporters supply chain issues have created problems with securing some equipment for the store, according to WKBW.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — This summer, Americans across the country are going to have to find new ways to beat the heat. A nationwide lifeguard shortage is expected to leave thousands of public pools closed and beaches under “Swim At Your Own Risk” rules.

“To start off, this is the worst I’ve ever seen it and I’ve been in the industry a long time,” said Bernard Fisher II, who has been the director of health and safety at the American Lifeguard Association for over 25 years.

According to data collected by the American Lifeguard Association, Fisher estimated that nearly half of all the pools in the U.S. will be affected this summer.

“Here we are this year, everybody wants to take a vacation, they want to go to their hotel with a garden pool. They want to go to their community pool. They wanted to go to the beach,” said Fisher. “But the problem is, we’re almost starting from ground zero.”

Although exacerbated by the pandemic, Fisher said that lifeguarding has been on the decline for decades. Some of this is in part to the decline in teenagers working summer jobs.

In 2000, more than half of the teenagers in the U.S. were working a summer job. In 2019, only 35.8% of teens worked over the summer. The number dropped even more during the pandemic and fewer than a third of U.S. teens worked in the summer of 2020, according to a 2021 study by the Pew Research Center.

Fewer teenagers are entering the workforce, and, due to the pandemic, many lifeguard certification training sessions were postponed or canceled. Now entering the third summer of COVID-19, for those who may have already been certified, their two-year lifeguard certificates have expired, leading to an even larger deficit of working lifeguards.

“[Lifeguard] candidates come into the workforce at the age of 15, 16, 17 years of age, and usually stay with us until their junior or senior year of university,” said Fisher. “With the first year of the pandemic. We didn’t get the new recruits. We didn’t have the ability to renew the certifications that were expiring from two years prior.”

Fisher said that the pandemic also disrupted seasonal lifeguards who come to the U.S. through the J-1 visa program over the summer. The program was established In 2011 by the federal government for scholars, professors and visitors obtaining medical or business training within the United States.

Before the pandemic, the American Lifeguard Association would train about 300,000 new candidates every year, including nearly 50,000 lifeguards who were sponsored through the J-1 visa program.

“Because of the lack of training that we had over the past two years, and also the lack of the J-1 visa candidates coming in as strongly as they they were… We haven’t even reached pre pandemic enrollment times,” said Fisher. “So with that said, we have a very serious problem in enrollment now.”

Fisher said he worries that not only will there be a lack of lifeguard supervision in public places with water, but also fewer people learning how to swim.

“In order to be a swim instructor, you have to be a lifeguard,” said Fisher, who said that the few swim instructors may be pulled to sit as a lifeguard rather than teach classes this summer due to the shortage. “The first thing you want to do is teach a child how to swim to prevent drowning… Some of these kids have not been in the water for two years, or ever.”

Every year in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 4,000 people will die from unintentional drownings, meaning an average of 11 drowning deaths per day.

For kids who don’t know how to swim, Fisher suggested that family members designate a responsible adult during pool and beach days to watch the water and to get a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard life jacket for novice swimmers.

“It’s very important, especially this year and the future years until we can overcome [the lifeguard shortage.] Life jackets save lives and of course proper supervision is always necessary,” said Fisher.

Ultimately, Fisher said that pool and beach closures are a loss to the community, but a larger loss for kids and summer joy.

“Our kids, our youth, the young ones that enjoy getting out to the neighborhood pools and having a great time with their parents. Some of my fondest memories are being at the pool, being at the beach with my parents. It’s true bonding,” said Fisher. “Also what better place to meet your neighbor than down at your community pool on a hot, hot summer day?”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SILER CITY, N.C.) — The North Carolina Department of Public Safety released police dashcam footage of a traffic stop that turned deadly when a state trooper shot and killed a man who allegedly pulled out a gun.

The footage seems to show the trooper, Rodney Cook, stopping a white Ford pickup truck because the driver and passenger were not wearing seatbelts, according to police.

The incident happened May 30 in Siler City after the car was pulled over around 4:30 p.m., according to DPS.

A superior court judge allowed the release of the footage by signing a formal request submitted by State Highway Patrol.

Cook asked the driver, identified as 21-year-old Mark Anthony Diaz, for identification but Diaz allegedly said he didn’t have any, according to police.

The trooper then asked Diaz to get out of the car after saying he smelled marijuana, police said.

The footage shows Diaz pulling a gun out the window and the trooper attempting to back away as Diaz steps out of the vehicle with the weapon.

Moments later, Cook shoots Diaz, who falls to the ground. The car begins to roll down the street and the passenger is seen running away.

After the trooper removes the gun from Diaz’s hands, he radios for backup emergency assistance, the footage shows. He is then seen performing lifesaving measures on Diaz.

DPS said Diaz was transported from the scene, but was later pronounced dead. The passenger who fled the scene later returned to the scene, according to DPS.

No shots were fired at Cook, the video shows.

Investigators told Durham ABC station WTVD-TV that the passenger is a minor who is cooperating with the investigation.

Cook was placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation as per protocol, DPS said. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is also conducting an independent probe of the shooting, according to DPS.

DPS declined to comment further, directing all inquiries to SBI. A representative for the bureau said the investigation is ongoing.

The North Carolina Troopers Association did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment regarding Cook’s involvement in the shooting.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SMITHSBURG, Md.) — Three people are dead and one critically injured after a shooting at a factory in Smithsburg, Maryland, Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The alleged gunman was wounded in an ensuing shootout with state police, authorities said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to reports of an active shooter at Columbia Machine at around 2:30 p.m. and found the victims.

The alleged shooter had fled the scene and was apprehended by Maryland State Police in nearby Hagerstown based on a description of the suspect, the sheriff’s office said.

The suspect and a state trooper exchanged gunfire, and both were injured and transported for medical treatment, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said the weapon used at both scenes was a semi-automatic handgun.

The deceased victims were identified as Mark Alan Frey, 50; Charles Edward Minnick Jr., 31, and Joshua Robert Wallace, 30, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.

The fourth victim who was injured was identified as 42-year-old Brandon Chase Michael.

The suspect, whom authorities said was a 23-year-old Hispanic man who lives in West Virginia, remains in custody, and his identity will not be released until charges are filed.

Maryland State Police said the injured trooper is a 25-year veteran of the department assigned to the Criminal Enforcement Division Western Region, and that he’s not being identified at this time. He was transported to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, where he was treated and released, state police said.

“There is no confirmed active threat to the community in relation to this incident,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation.

Washington County Sheriff spokesperson Sgt. Carly Hose said the alleged shooter is a man, though no additional information on the suspect or a possible motive was released.

Hose could not confirm the employment status of the suspect or victims.

Columbia Machine manufactures concrete products equipment. Smithsburg is about 70 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CASPER, Wyo.) — A $5,000 reward has been offered after a women set fire to a planned abortion clinic in Wyoming on May 25, according to new police footage.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offered the reward on Wednesday, as a woman was shown in security footage released by local police.

The Casper Police Department released the 30-second video, which shows the suspect in a hooded shirt and surgical mask carrying what appears to be a red fuel tank through an empty room within the clinic. The video shows the woman then crouching in a doorway with the tank.

According to a statement from police on Tuesday, the suspect in the video is a white woman, between 5 feet, 6 inches and 5 feet, 8 inches tall and of medium build. Police added that the suspect entered the building around 3:30 a.m. and that they believe the suspect acted alone.

The fire began early in the morning and firefighters arrived at the scene to find a broken window and smoke coming out of a corner of the building.

A witness who called police said they heard glass breaking and saw a person leaving the area carrying a gas can and a black bag, according to police.

“While this act of destruction is profoundly upsetting and presents new challenges, we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that the people of Casper can access the reproductive health care they need,” Wellspring Health Access founder Julie Burkhart said in a statement.

According to organizers of the clinic, because of the damage from the fire, the clinic will not open for an additional six months after its planned opening. The building affected was being renovated and slated to open in mid-June as the only facility of its kind in the state.

“When the needed repairs have been completed, we will open our clinic with the goal of providing the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including OB-GYN care, family planning, gender-affirming care and abortion care,” Burkhart added.

The Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper has faced regular anti-abortion protests.

The damage to the clinic means that women will have even more restrictions to care in the state. Wyoming is one of 13 states who pledged to ban all or nearly all abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in an upcoming decision.

In March, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill into law that would prohibit most abortions, should Roe be overturned. The bill includes exceptions for abortion in cases of rape, incest or to protect the mother from death or serious medical harm not involving mental health.

Already, abortion is limited within the state, as there are no doctors performing abortions in Wyoming. The only access women have to abortions in the state is through a medication abortion, which there is also limited access to, and can only be performed within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.