Strong emotions as Obama visits grieving Oregon town

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – An overnight brawl between two groups of students escalated Friday when a freshman at Northern Arizona University fired at four fraternity members, killing one and wounding three.

At Roseburg High School, Obama met with families for about an hour, telling them that he has strong feelings about how to prevent another mass shooting, The Oregonian reported in a blog post of the visit. Not everyone in Roseburg welcomed the President.

One day ahead to President Obama’s scheduled visit to meet with the families of the victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting, thousands of protesters are preparing to show disagreement with the trip and the president’s agenda. A law-enforcement official later told The Associated Press that the gunman had left a manifesto at the scene and that his writing complained of not having a girlfriend and said something like: “Other people think I’m insane, but I’m not”.

The gunman, Chris Harper Mercer, had no criminal record and had passed background checks to amass an arsenal of 13 weapons.

A few of the most poignant moments of Obama’s presidency have occurred in his role as consoler in chief.

University president Rita Hartung Cheng said she was “shocked and deeply saddened”. The bodies had not been buried. The small crowd around them tried to help, but agreement was hard to come by.

On Friday morning the autumn sun was already heating up the asphalt in front of the Roseburg Regional Airport as dozens of sign-carrying demonstrators took their places before the touchdown of Obama’s Marine One helicopter at the local airport. The White House says the visit is strictly about offering condolences. Karlinsky highlighted that “the President found himself in hostile territory during a visit he said was all about consoling victims…Gun rights supporters, many of them openly armed, gathered by the hundreds, angry that Obama made a gun control plea to the nation just hours after nine were murdered here”.

“Spend more money on mental health”, Harju said.

The father of an 18-year-old survivor who took a bullet to the back during the homicidal rampage at Umpqua Community College bluntly said he was skipping the session with Obama.

This time, the White House says, the meeting is private. “The families don’t need it”. Why didn’t God stop the shooting? “The shooter then said that he bets she was and shot her”, Downing wrote. But given the freshness of the week-old tragedy, he said, “Today, it’s about the families”.

“I just wish my grandkids were here with me to see him”, Scott said.

Counter-protesters, meanwhile, argued that the town should welcome the president, whatever the politics of his message. The reason I have for writing this statement is for me to get my story out in a way that I feel comfortable.