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Judge: Planned Parenthood Shooter Still Mentally Incompetent

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A judge says a man who acknowledged killing three people at a southern Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic remains mentally incompetent to stand trial.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports the ruling came Friday during a routine review of Robert Dear's mental health. He was first found legally incompetent in May 2016.

Robert Lewis Dear
Robert Lewis Dear in court (credit: CBS)

Dear is charged with 179 counts, including murder and attempted murder, stemming from the 2015 shooting in Colorado Springs. He's being held at the state mental hospital in Pueblo.

The next review is scheduled for April 26.

shooting at colorado springs planned parenthood clinic
(credit: CBS)

The hospital received permission in 2018 to forcefully medicate Dear, but state officials have refused to say whether that was underway, citing privacy rules.

State attorneys say the order permitting forced medication has expired and they will seek a new one.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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