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Gunman kills 9 at Oregon College, dies in shootout with police

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People take part in candle light vigil following a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
People take part in candle light vigil following a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

Roseburg - The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was slain in an exchange of gunfire with two police officers in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the morning rampage.

By Reuters

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Published: Fri 2 Oct 2015, 8:40 AM

Last updated: Sat 3 Oct 2015, 1:31 AM

A gunman stalked onto a college campus in southwestern Oregon on Thursday and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven before police shot him to death, authorities said, in yet another burst of US gun violence that ranked as the deadliest this year.
The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was slain in an exchange of gunfire with two police officers in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the morning rampage.
He was not publicly identified by local authorities - the county sheriff vowed never to utter his name. But CBS, CNN, NBC and the New York Times named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
"He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate," the Times quoted one law enforcement official as saying.
CNN reported that three handguns and a "long gun" belonging to him were recovered from the scene. According to published eyewitness accounts, the gunman at one point ordered cowering students to stand up before spraying the classroom with bullets.
"The law enforcement investigation into the shooter and his motivations is continuing," Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told reporters at an afternoon news conference.
He also said three of the wounded victims were hospitalized in critical condition.
The massacre in Roseburg, a former timber town on the western edge of the Cascades some 260 miles (418 km) south of Portland, was the latest in a flurry of deadly mass shootings at American college and public school campuses, movie theaters, military bases and churches in recent years.
The 10 people killed surpassed the death tolls from two previous mass shootings - a gun battle between rival motorcycle gangs in Waco, Texas, in May, and the rampage of a gunman at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, each of which claimed nine lives - to mark the deadliest incident of gun violence in the United States this year.
Not counting Thursday's carnage, a total of 293 mass shootings have been reported since January 2015, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker website, a crowd-sourced database kept by anti-gun activists that defines a mass shooting as any event in which four or more people are shot.
The killings have fueled demands for more gun control in the United States, where ownership of firearms is protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, and better care for the mentally ill.
President Barack Obama, speaking just hours after the rampage, said the mass killing should move Americans to demand greater gun controls from elected officials.
"Somehow this has become routine," a visibly angry Obama said. "The reporting is routine. My response here, at this podium, ends up being routine. ...We've become numb to this."

GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMS

Kortney Moore, 18, told the local News Review newspaper that she was in her writing class in Snyder Hall when a gunshot came through the window and struck her teacher in the head.
Freshman Kenny Ungerman told NBC that said he saw the shooter, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, carrying a handgun as he went into the building, followed by gunshots and screams. Student Cassandra Welding told CNN that she heard 35 to 40 shots.
Student Brady Winder, in a posting on Facebook, said he was in a classroom next door to the room where the shooting began and ran, along with his classmates, when they heard the gunfire.
"I ran to the edge of the campus, down a hill and waited. From talking with a student in the classroom where it happen, almost every person in the room was shot by a man with four guns," Winder, 23, wrote.
PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center emergency room doctor Hans Notenboom told reporters three women about 18 to 34 years of age were flown to the hospital in Riverbend by helicopter, and two were moved directly into operating room.
Survivors were transported to a local fairgrounds, and some family members were left waiting for hours to see if their loved ones would be among them.
"We have grief counselors waiting for those parents who have no children getting off that bus," said the college's president, Rita Calvin.
Following the bloodshed state and federal authorities swarmed Roseburg, including agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Police descended on an apartment possibly linked to the suspect about 2 miles (3 km) from campus, where police tape prevented access. It was not immediately clear who lived in the residence.
The college, which began its fall term this week and serves more than 13,000 students - 3,000 of them full time - said it would be closed until Monday. Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil at nightfall.

Major shootings in the United States

The fatal shootings at an Oregon community college on Thursday were the latest of many deadly rampages in the United States.

Below are some of the worst shooting incidents in recent years, ranked by the number of dead, including the shooter:

Virginia Tech April 16, 2007 - A gunman slaughters 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Sandy Hook Dec. 14, 2012 - A gunman kills 20 children and six adults and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Columbine April 20, 1999 - Two heavily armed teenagers go on a rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, shooting 12 students and a teacher and wounding more than 20 others before taking their own lives.

Immigration center April 3, 2009 - A Vietnamese immigrant opens fire at an immigrant services center in Binghamton, New York, killing 13 people and wounding four. He then kills himself.

Fort Hood Nov. 5, 2009 - A gunman opens fire at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army base in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 32. The gunman, an Army major and psychiatrist, was sentenced to death for the rampage.

Washington Navy Yard Sept. 16, 2013 - A former Navy reservist working as a government contractor kills 12 people and at the Washington Navy Yard. Eight people are injured. The gunman was killed by police.

Colorado movie theater July 20, 2012 - A masked gunman kills 12 people and wounds 70 when he opens fire on moviegoers at a midnight premiere of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, a Denver suburb. A former graduate student is sentenced to life in prison for the rampage.

Washington, D.C., snipers October 2002 - Two men ambush 13 people, killing 10 of them, in a string of sniper-style shootings that terrorize the Washington, D.C., area.

Oregon College Oct 1, 2015 - A gunman bursts into a community college in southwest Oregon and opens fire, killing nine people and wounding seven others before police shoot him to death.

Charleston June 17, 2015 - A gunman kills nine people during a study session in Charleston, South Carolina. The suspect is awaiting trial.

Waco bikers May 17, 2015 - Rival motorcycle gangs kill nine at a restaurant in Waco, Texas. More than 170 people are arrested.

Grandfather kills family Sept. 18, 2014 - Man kills his daughter and six grandchildren in Bell, Florida, and then kills himself.

Oikos University April 2, 2012 - A former student kills seven students at Oikos University, a small Christian school in Oakland, California. The suspect is awaiting trial.

Florida apartment July 26, 2013 - A man goes on a shooting spree at an apartment complex in Hialeah, Florida, killing six people. The shooter is killed by police.

Congresswoman assassination attempt Jan. 8, 2011 - Then-U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is the target of an assassination attempt by a gunman in Tucson, Arizona, in which six people are killed and 13, including Giffords, are wounded.

Television journalists Aug. 26, 2015 - A reporter and a cameraman are fatally ambushed by a former employee of their Roanoke, Virginia, television station while they are interviewing a woman on live TV. The woman is wounded. The gunman later kills himself as police pursue him on a highway hours after the shooting.

 Reuters


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