Oregon Shooter’s Father Surprised Son Had Guns

Parents of students in the classroom said the gunman shot one after saying she could save her life by begging.

After he fell, Wanda Mintz said her nephew told the suspect: “It’s my son’s birthday today”.

Six minutes later, Hanlin said, two Roseburg police officers and a state trooper arrived on the scene.

A review of Army records indicate that Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer was in service at Ft.

“I’ve been waiting to do this for years”, the gunman told the professor teaching the class. He shot him point blank, Boylan recounted. Harper-Mercer fled and then shot himself, and he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

“I heard a couple loud noises, our whole class heard them”, said Angel Ardito.

She attended as a mature student alongside her 18-year-old daughter Shannon, who survived the attack unharmed, The Sun reported. “That’s why I thought there was something – something was up”, she said.

In a short statement tonight, the gunman’s family said: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific events that unfolded on October 1”.

Kim DietzDietz, 59, was confirmed by her husband to have been killed in Thursday’s shooting.

The official is familiar with the investigation but was not authorized to disclose information and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Boylan, a freshman at Umpqua Community College, also told her grandmother the gunman asked students about their faith.

Two officials said that after the shooting, the gunman’s family told investigators that he suffered from mental health issues and had sought treatment.

Chris Harper Mercer, 26, targeted Christians during his massacre, in fact he ordered everyone in the classroom to stand up and state their faith.

Witnesses said he demanded to know his victims’ religion before shooting them execution-style. “‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them….”

Officials have not given details about what happened in the classroom.

A message on 4chan – a forum where racist and misogynistic comments are frequent – warned of an impending attack, but it’s unclear if it came from Harper-Mercer.

Father Ian Mercer said he had no idea his son had accumulated so many guns.

The shooter also appeared obsessed with guns and religion and had leanings toward white supremacy.

His victims were named on Friday, and aged from 18 to 67. Beloved sons and daughters.

Guthrie’s father sold cars in the Roseburg area for about 20 years, and the left-hander said he still has several aunts, uncles and cousins in the region about 180 miles south of Portland.

A flak jacket was found next to a rifle at the school with five magazines of ammunition, Nunez said.

At an apartment complex where Mercer and his mother lived in Southern California, neighbors remembered him as a quiet, odd young man who rode a red bike.

In 2008, Mercer enlisted in the United States Army but was released after about one month, according to the Pentagon.

Recruits must also pass a multiple-choice test covering science, math, reading comprehension and other topics.

Officials have not said exactly how the shooter interacted with the victims as he fired, but one active shooter expert, Jesus Villahermosa, says the best thing you can do is lock yourself down in a room.