Investigators piece together motive of Oregon shooter

ROSEBURG, United States -- Investigators on Saturday pieced together evidence on why a student at a college in Oregon went on a rampage that left nine people dead before committing suicide as police cornered him.

Officials said the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, was enrolled at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and opened fire in his English writing class.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Mercer -- whom he has refused to identify by name so as not to give him notoriety -- exchanged fire with two officers who had rushed to the scene before committing suicide.

He said 14 weapons belonging to the shooter had been recovered, including six found at the school along with a flak jacket and ammunition.

Mercer's British-born father Ian, who lives in Torrance, California, said he was devastated by the killings and didn't understand how his son managed to amass his arsenal.

"How on earth could he compile (14) guns?" he told CNN. "If Chris had not been able to get hold of (14) guns it would not have happened."

"My heart goes out to all the other families affected by this," added Ian Mercer, who said he last saw his son when he moved to Oregon with his mother two years ago.

"I know nothing I can say can change what happened. But please believe me, my thoughts are with all those families."

Hanlin said investigators were poring through numerous leads and had interviewed hundreds of people to try to determine what set off the rampage.

The shooting, the latest in a string of similar attacks in recent years at colleges and schools in the United States, has revived a fierce debate on gun control.

Officials say Mercer had struggled with mental health problems for some time and left behind a typed statement several pages long in which he indicated he felt lonely and was inspired by previous mass killings.

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

The mother of one of the nine people injured in the carnage said her 16-year-old daughter saw Mercer single out a student and hand him an envelope before ordering the other students to move to the middle of the classroom.

"He told him 'you're going to be the lucky one' and gave him an envelope," Cheyenne Fitzgerald's mother told reporters. "He was going to be the one telling the story."

She said her daughter was shot in the back and had lost a kidney.

It was unclear how long Mercer had been a student at Umpqua, a small college of about 3,000 students located in Roseburg, a close-knit rural community.

The rampage took place on the fourth day of the new school year.

Witnesses said the gunman asked his victims their religion before shooting them execution-style.

- Passionate about guns -

Hanlin said investigators were examining how Mercer purchased his weapons and were looking at some of his online postings.

Mercer's neighbors have described him as withdrawn and quiet, but passionate when it came to guns.

"When we talked about guns and hunting, he was real open about it," Louie Flores, 32, a neighbor from California, told The New York Times.

"But anything about what was going on in his life, he really didn't say too much at all."

In online postings linked to Mercer's email address, investigators reportedly found one entry in which he expressed sympathy for a dismissed television reporter who killed two former colleagues during a live broadcast in Virginia in August.

In Roseburg, residents tried to come to terms with the tragedy and the sad reality that their town would now be remembered as the site of a mass killing.

The bodies of the nine victims -- five women and four men aged between 18 and 67 -- were handed back to their families on Friday.

Fire Marshall Greg Marlar said one of the victims, 20-year-old Treven Anspach, was the son of a local firefighter. Another rescuer lost his niece.

Chris Mintz, 30, an army veteran, had tried to stop the bloodshed by charging Mercer but was shot seven times while pleading that it was his son's sixth birthday. He survived.

The mass shooting reflects a grim reality of American life, with similar incidents happening on a regular basis.

The last mass shooting at a US school took place in 2012 when 20 elementary school students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

According to data compiled by the group Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been 142 school shootings in the United States since the Sandy Hook massacre.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US college shooter had arsenal of weapons

ROSEBURG, United States - The 26-year-old behind America's latest mass shooting at a college in rural Oregon appears to have been a gun enthusiast who hoarded an arsenal of weapons and was obsessed with religion.

Though authorities have yet to formally name him, the gunman behind the murder of nine people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg has been widely identified as Chris Harper Mercer.

As a portrait of the shooter -- who died in the carnage -- began emerging on Friday, officials said they had recovered 13 weapons belonging to him, including six at the school.

Celinez Nunez, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told a press conference that a flak jacket with steel plates and five magazines were also found laying next to a rifle at the school.

Authorities said they were still trying to determine what prompted the killings. Several reports said Mercer, who apparently had no ties to the college, may have been seeking notoriety.

"He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate," the New York Times quoted an unnamed law enforcement official as saying.

Another official said Mercer, who lived with his mother, was obsessed with guns and religion and had leanings toward white supremacy.

Witnesses said he demanded to know his victims' religion before gunning them down.

"They would stand up and he said 'Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second'," Stacy Boylan told CNN, relaying his daughter Ana's account. She survived by playing dead.

 Hate-filled writings
CNN quoted investigators as saying that during the shooting rampage, Mercer handed hate-filled writings to a survivor that spoke of his frustration at not having a girlfriend and at being a virgin. He also reportedly left behind a box.

Derrick McClendon, a former neighbor of Mercer when he lived in California, said the young man was very withdrawn and ill at ease.

"I would say, 'Hey, man, you all right?'" McClendon told the New York Times. "He would say 'hi,' but that's it. He was really shy".

Mercer's neighbors in Oregon described him as a withdrawn, anxious man who wore the same outfit every day -- combat boots, green army pants and a white T-shirt.

"He was not a friendly type of guy," said Bronte Hart.

"He did not want anything to do with anyone."

The rampage Thursday in the close-knit rural community prompted an impassioned new plea for gun control by President Barack Obama who said Americans had become "numb" to the horror of mass shootings.

Obama on Friday warned that unless gun safety measures are adopted, such killings would go on.

"Let's not forget this is happening every single day in forgotten neighborhoods around the country," he told reporters. "Every single day, kids are just running for their lives trying to get to school."

In answer to those who argue that mental illness lies at the root of America's mass shooting epidemic, Obama said the key was to limit access to guns for the tiny minority of mentally ill people who turn violent.

"The only thing we can do is make sure that they can't have an entire arsenal when something snaps in them," he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also added his voice to calls for action to curb gun violence saying it was taking an "appalling toll" on American society.

 'It's my son's birthday'

In Roseburg, a close-knit community, stories of heroism began to emerge Friday, among them that of army veteran Chris Mintz who was seriously injured after charging the gunman.

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.

The gunman managed to blast his way in, shooting Mintz in the back, abdomen, hand and legs.

"He gets shot three times, hits the floor, looks up at the gunman and says 'it's my son's birthday' and gets shot two more times," Mintz's aunt told a CNN affiliate. She said her nephew too was expected recover.

Local residents voiced dismay to see their town of some 20,000 residents gain notoriety as the site of America's latest mass killing.

"There is a sense of pride about our community and to think that we're getting national recognition because someone shot people," Dean Remick, 62, a retired Umpqua theatre professor, told AFP.

School shootings are a disturbing reality of American life and many facilities have reinforced security in recent years, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook, Connecticut massacre in 2012 that left 20 students and six adults dead.

There have been 142 school shootings in the United States since that tragedy, according to data compiled by Mass Shooting Tracker.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com