Overland Park Planned Parenthood briefly suspended services after disturbance
Services at an Overland Park Planned Parenthood were temporarily suspended Saturday following a domestic disturbance in the health center’s parking lot.
Officers with the Overland Park Police Department were called to the Planned Parenthood Comprehensive Health Center, located at 4401 W. 109th St., sometime on March 14, Officer John Lacy, a spokesperson for the department, said in an email to The Star.
The email did say what time the incident occurred.
Lacy said the call was initially listed as a “verbal disturbance,” but was upgraded to an armed disturbance.
A preliminary investigation indicated a man and woman had already been engaged in a “fight” while en-route to Planned Parenthood, Lacy said.
The argument continued in the health center’s parking lot, where protestes “verbally intervened,” Lacy said. The man then displayed a gun, which he then pointed toward a protester.
The man fired the gun toward the ground before getting into a vehicle and leaving with the woman, Lacy said.
According to an email obtained by The Star that was sent to staff and providers, on-site volunteers alerted security to the incident, the latter of which called law enforcement.
Planned Parenthood went on a “brief lockdown,” halting services Saturday, Lacy said. The clinic appeared to be open Monday, according to its website.
“I want to acknowledge how unsettling an event like this can be,” the email said. “While we have expert security measures in place to keep our site safe, I know that doesn’t make the experience any less jarring.”
Officers stopped the pair’s vehicle on a highway ramp exiting Roe Avenue to Interstate 435, Lacy said. The man was arrested and taken to the Johnson County Jail, and the woman was released at the scene. Two small children were in the car at the time.
No staff, patients or volunteers at the Planned Parenthood were injured during the incident, the email said.
