Nancy Kerrigan pays tribute to Garret Swasey killed in Planned Parenthood attack

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Kerrigan, 46, and slain officer Garret Swasey were inseparable as children
He was killed gunned down at the Colorado Springs clinic on Friday
The two-time Olympic medalist said they were like 'brother and sister'
Said the father-of-two always had a smile on his face and was supportive
His father would collect them from school and take them to a rink together

Published: 11:35 EST, 29 November 2015 | Updated: 18:35 EST, 29 November 2015

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Former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan has paid tribute to a Colorado cop and childhood friend who was shot and killed during an attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

The 46-year-old two-time medalist described Garret Swasey as 'another brother' who competed alongside her from a young age and were inseparable away from the rink .

The 44-year-old father-of-two, who Kerrigan affectionately nicknamed 'Ugh', was the first of three victims to be identified in the shootings at the Colorado Springs, Colorado, clinic on Friday.

Suspected anti-abortionist Robert Dear, 57, was arrested and is behind bars facing multiple charges.

Decades prior to his death, the police officer won a national championship in the junior ranks of ice dancing and competed in the US Championships at least three times.

Kerrigan told the Boston Herald: 'We were always teasing each other like a brother and sister.

'It was him yelling that day and I could feel the energy and excitement of him rooting for me. It made me laugh. Instead of listening to music, I found that humor helped, it was good for me and it helped push me to do better.'

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Former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (right) said Garret Swasey, 44, was like 'another brother'. He was shot and killed at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs on Friday

Before becoming a police officer, Garrett Swasey was a former champion ice skater. Above, a picture of him and his former ice-dancing partner Christine Fowler-Binder

Kerrigan won two Olympic medals. She took home bronze in Albertville, France in 1992 and a silver in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994 (pictured)

She added: 'I always felt, for years and years, that he was definitely a big part of that. I am very thankful for having him in my life.'

Kerrigan grew up in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and won two Olympic medals .

She took home bronze in Albertville, France in 1992 and a silver in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.

Before she won her medal in 1994, she made headlines around the world after rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly clubbed her in the knee during a practice session of the national championships in Detroit.

Kerrigan and Swasey skated together as children and hung out outside the rink as well, she said.

She said: 'His dad picked me up at school every day to take me to the rink,' Kerrigan said. 'We were together an awful lot as children.

'I would ride my bike to his house and we'd hang out at the pool. We were together all the time, whether were skating or not.

'I don't ever remember him ever being in a bad mood' she added. 'He was always ready to listen, to be there, to help, to encourage somebody else. He was just a really good friend, very loyal and kind.

'He had a big, giant, smile all the time, even when we were teasing each other like brothers and sisters do.'

Married with two children, Swasey worked as a police officer at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. He was there when he was called to assist with an active shooter at the nearby clinic.

Swasey's widow, Rachel Swasey, said in a statement Sunday that 'his last act was for the safety and well-being of others.' She says the family will cherish memories of him tossing the football with his son and snuggling with his daughter.

The community also honored Garrett Swasey at two vigils Saturday.

Swasey was originally from Melrose, Massachusetts, where Police Chief Michael Lyle said he dedicated much of his life to helping others.

When he moved to Colorado he and Kerrigan grew apart and, in recent years, Kerrigan said she hadn't seen much of him.

He took part in couples ice dancing competitions, his former skating partner, Christine Fowler-Binder, told CNN.

The pair won the junior national championship in Orlando, Florida, in 1992.

'Garrett is, or was, the most selfless person I knew. Always there as kind of my confidante, my brother, he put up with me. I kind of was pushing him probably over the edge at times, and he always had the patience to calm me down, and you know we worked together like brother and sister would,' Fowler-Binder said.

The pair moved to Colorado in the early 1990s to pursue competitive ice dancing and achieved triumph in their 1992 season.

'The year before, we were dead last in our event at nationals, and Garrett put his arm around me and said, 'Don't worry. Next year we'll be back and we'll be at the top'. And we did. It was pretty amazing,' she said.

The Olympian also shared her condolences for Garrett's family on Twitter

Since retiring from competitions, she has performed in a variety of ice shows and one-off events, including the Tribute to American Legends of the Ice in 2013 (pictured)

Swasey and his partner Christine Fowler-Binder competed in several US Championships (pictured). They even moved to Colorado in the early 1990s to pursue competitive ice dancing

Swasey pictured with his family. His wife Rachel is a nurse. Their son Elijah will soon turn 11 while their daughter, Faith, is six

Hope Chapel elder, Scott Dontanville, prays for the man who killed his friend and fellow elder, Garrett Swasey, during the congregation's first service since Swasey's death on Sunday

Members of Hope Chapel take part in service early Sunday in northeast Colorado Springs for police officer Garrett Swasey, who was one of the three victims of a shooting at a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic

Swasey became a police officer six years ago, around the time his daughter was born, 73-year-old David Swasey told the Boston Globe.

'He was a great dad,' David Swasey told the newspaper. 'I mean, a super dad. Everybody in the police department loved him. Anybody who ever met him loved him. He was a great guy, a great person.'

Swasey was a co-pastor at Hope Chapel, an evangelical church in Colorado Springs.

He and his wife, Rachel, began attending in 2001, according to a bio on the church's website. The couple have a young son, Elijah, ten, and daughter, Faith, six.

'As they raise their son, Elijah, and daughter, Faith, they view the members of the church as their family,' the bio reads.

'Here's a guy who worked full time as a police officer, and then gave a great amount of time to his local church and didn't get a dime for it,' the Rev Scott Dontanville, a co-pastor who knew Swasey for 15 years, told The New York Times.

Dontanville told the Globe that he and Swasey, a fan of the New England Patriots, would often tease each other about football since Dontanville roots for the Denver Broncos.

Police have identified the gunman suspected of killing three people and injuring nine at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic as Robert Dear (pictured above), of North Carolina

The Rev Nori Rost, left, of the All Souls Unitarian Universality Church led a vigil on Saturday to mark Friday's shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic

Vigil attendees holding hands during a ceremony on Saturday to mark Friday's shooting

'That's something he would always give us trouble for on Sunday morning,' he told the newspaper. 'He was an awesome man... Great father, great husband, good friend - caring, compassionate.'

Dontanville said that Swasey played guitar at the church while his wife watched children in the nursery.

President Barack Obama praised Swasey in a statement released by the White House: 'May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save - and may He grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing.'

Little was known about the other two people who were killed or the nine who were wounded.

The regional head of Planned Parenthood said none of the clinic's 15 employees at the clinic Friday were hurt.

Vicki Cowart said the group was tracking down patients who might have been headed to the clinic Friday afternoon, but hadn't discovered who the victims were.

The vigil honored the three people who were killed in Friday's attack, as well as the nine people who were hospitalized, including five police officers

Colorado Springs residents Paul Nice and Denise Anchondo lay flowers at an intersection on Saturday in honor of the victims of Friday's deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic

Colorado Springs Fire Department Chief Chris Riley visited four injured officers Friday night. All had been shot but were talking and expected to recover, he said.

'Their spirits are good,' Riley said after visiting them. 'They're obviously in pain. But they're alive and talking to us. They're heroes. Absolute heroes.'

Two vigils were planned Saturday in Colorado Springs for Swasey and the other victims. Moments of silence were planned in honor of Swasey before the men's and women's basketball games at UCCS.

Six police officers and dispatcher from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs attended a campus basketball game Saturday and stood for a moment of silence for Swasey.

None of the officers talked to reporters after the ceremony, though one cried into the shoulder of the school mascot.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S STATEMENT AFTER PLANNED PARENTHOOD SHOOTING

The last thing Americans should have to do, over the holidays or any day, is comfort the families of people killed by gun violence - people who woke up in the morning and bid their loved ones goodbye with no idea it would be for the last time.

And yet, two days after Thanksgiving, that's what we are forced to do again.

We don't yet know what this particular gunman's so-called motive was for shooting 12 people, or for terrorizing an entire community, when he opened fire with an assault weapon and took hostages at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado. What we do know is that he killed a cop in the line of duty, along with two of the citizens that police officer was trying to protect. We know that law enforcement saved lives, as so many of them do every day, all across America. And we know that more Americans and their families had fear forced upon them.

This is not normal. We can't let it become normal. If we truly care about this - if we're going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience -- then 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.

May God bless officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save - and may He grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing.