The Gunman’s Christian Martyrs

A woman is comforted as friends and family wait for students at the local fairgrounds after a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday, October 1, 2015.

Anastasia Boylan, 18, was shot in the back by Chris Harper-Mercer as he rampaged through Umpqua Community College near Roseburg in Oregon. He did not want anything to do with anyone.”She told The Associated Press that Mercer would “sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light.” Hart said that a woman she believed to be Mercers mother lived with him and was “crying her eyes out” Thursday. From what I understood what she said was he shot the professor point blank, one shot killed him. According to survivors, Mercer asked his hostages if they were Christians.“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian.

“The bold souls at Umpqua Community College who stood up to say they were followers of Jesus Christ were heinously gunned down with no mercy”, Graham wrote.

High school student Autumn Vicari told NBC News her 19-year-old brother J.J. was in a room filled with students at the college when the gunman entered. She can wiggle her toes, move her legs and is expected to be able to walk.

Not counting Thursday’s incident, 293 mass shootings have been reported this year, 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.

Survivor Kortney Moore also told of the gunman asking people to stand up and state their religion.

The massacre in Roseburg, a former timber town on the western edge of the Cascades a few 260 miles (420 km) south of Portland, was the latest in a flurry of lethal US mass shootings in recent years.

The gunman, while reloading his handgun, ordered the students to stand up and asked if they were Christians, Boylan told her family.

The gunman was not publicly identified by local authorities.

Five pistols and one rifle were found at the college, where the shooter died Thursday after a gunbattle with police. After they stood and gave their answer, he started shooting.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hamlin said authorities exchanged gunfire with Mercer in a classroom.

The profile described the poster as “shy at first, but warm up quickly” and “better in small groups” – consistent with what Mercer’s acquaintances said.

“I looked over outside, and people were running away from the building, so I knew exactly what had just happened”, she said. He said that arguments in support of unregulated guns could not be taken seriously. “There’s 10, 9 kids who won’t get those doors opened”, he said.

Sheriff Hanlin said officers have canvassed the campus and investigated the suspect’s residence. Around Oregon, flags are being flown at half mast.

Hundreds went to a candlelight vigil Thursday night, with many raising candles as the hymn “Amazing Grace” was played.

The shooter and his mother reportedly lived in Torrance, California for several years before moving to Oregon.

Sarah Cobb, 17, was in a next-door classroom. “They lost their child tonight, too”.