Chris Harper Mercer Sought ‘Limelight’ He Saw Given to VA Shooter

Other neighbours told the Los Angeles Times that Harper-Mercer was a “loner”.

She said: “The shooter was inside at that point, and he told people to get on the ground”.

“And then he shot and killed them.”

Boylan, 18, was hit in the back by a bullet that traveled down her spine.

The 26-year-old, who was shot dead by police after a shootout at the Umpqua Community College, had expressed a disdain for religion online and had also expressed support for the IRA.

Another blog post discussing the recent shooting of a Houston police officer said he did not “agree with the black lives matter protests”.

Initially, police refused to identity the suspect in an effort to avoid giving the shooter exactly what he wanted: attention. “I saw ambulances. Then I saw Federal Bureau of Investigation people with guns”, Morgan said.

God rest the souls of those martyred in His name.

But a law enforcement source confirmed media reports naming the suspect as Chris Harper-Mercer, 26.

It was unclear if Mercer was a student at the college.

Witnesses to the Oregon bloodshed described Mercer as questioning people at gunpoint about their religious affiliations, and appearing to single out Christians for killing.

A candle light prayer session was held on Thursday Night.

KNX-AM radio reporter Pete Demetriou spoke to Ian Mercer Thursday night after he made a statement to the media outside his home.

“I have received my order”, the user wrote.

Mercer, who lived in Winchester, Oregon, identified himself as mixed race.

Several reports said Mercer, who apparently had no ties to the college, may have been seeking notoriety. “I will not give him the credit he probably sought”. Criminal charges would be greater should someone be caught carrying one.

The posts were left under the username lithium_love.

He continued: “His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day”.

Not counting Thursday’s incident, 293 mass shootings have been reported in 2015, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker website, a crowd-sourced database kept by anti-gun activists that logs events in which four or more people are shot. “He always seemed anxious”, said Rosario Lucumi, 51, who rode the same bus in Torrance as Mercer when she went to work.

But for mass shootings – where few people were killed but many might be wounded – coverage was largely limited to local outlets.

Three people with gunshot wounds to the head were transferred to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield, he said. One surgery patient was discharged, he said. The Identities may be released Friday or Saturday, he said. I don’t know where it was.

Online directories list a man of that name as having lived in Torrance, California, before moving to Winchester, Oregon. Those killed and wounded were found in at least two classrooms.

Mintz, who was studying at Umpqua to become a fitness trainer, threw himself against the classroom door to prevent Mercer from entering, his family said.

In a room nearby, Cassandra Welding heard the percussive sounds of gunshots with horror.

“I just started noticing him the last 4-6 months, there’s a playground out behind the apartments, and we’re on the second story”. Campus spokeswoman Ann Garten says she has no details on whether he graduated or what he studied.

Willis says her granddaughter also told her the shooter handed a student who wasn’t shot a package and told him to deliver it to authorities.

Her friend, Jason Lee, 19, said Harper-Mercer would sometimes yell at children from his red bicycle.

“It’s terrible”, said Padilla, a Compton resident. Francona said that logging is a big industry in the region, which is fairly rural but easily accessible from Interstate 5.

Many law enforcement cars, personnel and dogs had gathered at the pink apartment complex, about a four-minute drive from Umpqua Community College, by early Thursday evening. It has been called the deadliest shooting rampage in USA history.

News of the shooting quickly reached Washington, with the state’s senior senator, Ron Wyden, visibly shaken and Sen.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush came under fierce criticism after saying “stuff happens”, when asked about renewed calls for gun control in the aftermath of the Umpqua shooting.

Meanwhile, the Oregon attack is said to have triggered an impassionate response from President Barack Obama. “Somehow this has been become routine”.