Oregon gunman was Army dropout who studied mass shooters

In statements delivered by law enforcement, relatives of several of the nine victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting described the loved ones who died when the shooter, identified by multiple media outlets as Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire on Thursday.

He also said three of the wounded victims were hospitalized in critical condition. Friends and family gathered at his home on Friday to mourn his death. According to the network, “Vicari said at one point the shooter told people to stand up before asking whether they were Christian or not”. He then began firing.

A number of the victims’ family released statements on Friday.

The shooting sparked panic at the usually quiet college, more than 70 miles south of Eugene.

Harper-Mercer’s family have spoken of their shock over the incident. We started to run to the center of campus.

The decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Firearms Education Foundation, who claimed that the university system had no right to restrict students from carrying a gun into public buildings.

President Obama expressed dismay Thursday that yet another mass shooting had occurred without a significant policy discussion about gun control. However, reports indicated they were examining Mercer’s online presence very closely. Another official said investigators were poring over what he described as “hateful” writings by Mercer.

The reality is that such killings will continue until the nation decides to deal with the toxic mix of high-powered guns and troubled individuals who seem to feed off of each others’ crimes. She heard gunshots from a neighbouring classroom.

Reporter: Telling ABC news her daughter said the shooter asked people their religion before shooting.

The victims were identified as assistant English professor Lawrence Levine, 67, and eight people believed to be his students: Quinn Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18; Jason Johnson, 33; Sarena Moore, 44; Treven Anspach, 20; and Rebecka Carnes, 18; and Lucero Alcaraz, 19. If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. Her and another girl laid and pretend to be dead.

“It’s been a devastating day, devastating for me and my family”, he said, according to a transcript provided by KNBC-TV.

Chris Harper-Mercer’s page on Myspace includes a series of pictures of masked IRA men wearing camouflage and wielding rifles.

The former president the college says the school has only one security officer on duty at a time, and that person isn’t armed. “Don’t go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest”, an anonymous poster wrote a day before the shootings.

“I’ve just been talking to the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all the details I have right now is what you guys have already”, Ian Mercer told the press, as cited by The Guardian. I don’t remember – I was so young – if she was going to school there or if she was helping out there, but my brothers and I used to go swimming there at the swimming pool that you can see in those aerial photos.