In familiar ritual, Obama consoles victims in Oregon mass shooting

ROSEBURG, Oregon - President Barack Obama, in a ritual that has become both familiar and frustrating to him, traveled to Oregon on Friday to console families of the victims of a community college shooting that once again sparked a push for U.S. gun reform.

The president, a Democrat who tried but failed to tighten firearms laws after previous mass shootings, arrived in a community where support for gun rights remains strong despite the massacre in which nine victims died in the deadliest massacre on U.S. soil in two years.

As his motorcade drove into town, supporters and protesters lined the streets with signs such as "Not giving up our rights," "Please leave us in Peace" and "Gun-free zones are for sitting ducks."

Obama met privately for about an hour with the families at a local high school.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, he said he had "strong feelings" about the issue of gun control and said the country needed to come together to prevent such shootings from happening in the future. But he did not show the same anger he has previously, saying the day was about the families.

Last week the president furiously denounced the killings as a symptom of a political choice by U.S. lawmakers to bow to pressure from the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group instead of reforming gun laws.

"I will politicize it, because our inaction is a political decision that we are making," he said at a White House news conference.

Obama has made regular trips to funerals and memorial services for victims of mass shootings during the past seven years as president. He has said the December 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut was his toughest day as president.

About 250 people gathered in Roseburg, some driving for hours, to protest his visit.

"The way things played out with Sandy Hook and the president parading those families across the country to take away my gun rights - that is why I'm here," said Jason Harju, 40, who was wearing a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun on his belt and a sweatshirt that said "OREGUN."

"He's using us to politicize this shooting. He's trying to get guns taken away," said Willie Windon, 56, a retired U.S. Army veteran.

Obama has tasked White House lawyers and advisers to look for new ways he could use his executive powers to enforce existing gun regulations.

One of those options is a regulatory change to require more dealers to get a license to sell guns, which would lead to more background checks on buyers - an action that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would take if elected in November 2016.

The White House had drafted a proposal on that issue in 2013, but was concerned it could be challenged in court and would be hard to enforce.

But officials are now hopeful that they can find a way to advance the plan, a White House official said on Friday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

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

NBA Wrap: LeBron says 'no room for' gun violence

NBA superstar LeBron James spoke out about the need for stricter gun laws Friday, one day after a 5-month-old girl in Cleveland was killed in a drive-by shooting.

The death of Aavielle Wakefield, plus a mass shooting at an Oregon community college in which nine people were killed, fueled the decision by the Cleveland Cavaliers star to take a public stand.

"Four kids under the age of 5 or 6 years old have been shot and killed or very badly injured," James told reporters in reference to recent shootings around Cleveland.

"There's no room for that. There's no room for guns, first of all, but then for violence toward kids or anybody. I see the news go across my phone and I'm sitting there in front of my three kids, so it automatically just hit me.

"It's not just in Cleveland, it's the whole nation that goes through this as well. We all hurt from it."


James did not witness the speech of President Barack Obama following the massacre in Roseburg, Oregon -- an attack in which the shooter was killed by police.

Part of Obama's comments included terming the United States as "the only advanced country on earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months."

James agrees with Obama and wants to see change.

"I know what I see. I know how I feel," James said. "Obviously you're not going to be able to take every gun out. I don't know how you can do that. There's so many around now, today.

"But if there's some stipulations behind it or some penalties, some big-time penalties or rules or regulations about carrying firearms, legal or illegal, people will second-guess themselves."

- - -

Cavaliers free agent forward/center Tristan Thompson passed on the team's one-year, $6.8-million qualifying offer.

Thompson did not sign the qualifying offer by the 11:59 p.m. ET deadline Thursday, according to reports.

The Cavs have made different offers over the summer, going as high as $16 million in an average annual salary, according to ESPN. Thompson wants a three-year, $53-million max contract or a five-year deal for $94 million.

Thompson remains a restricted free agent, and negotiations between his representative, Rich Paul, and the Cavs will now continue. He has missed the start of training camp this week.

The 24-year-old Thompson averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds during the 2014-15 regular season when he was the Cavs' sixth man.

After Kevin Love was injured in the first round of the playoffs, Thompson started at power forward. In the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, he averaged 11.6 points and 12.6 rebounds.

- - -

The Milwaukee Bucks and power forward John Henson agreed to a four-year, $44-million contract extension, according to reports.

The deal goes into effect starting in 2016-17 and will run through the 2019-20 season.

The 6-foot-11, 229-pound Henson averaged 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game for the Bucks last season. He also averaged 2.0 blocks over 67 games played to rank sixth in the league.

The 24-year-old Henson was the No. 14 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

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

Obama voices anger over Oregon shooting, urges gun control

WASHINGTON, United States - US President Barack Obama on Thursday voiced his anger and sadness after the country's latest deadly shooting, this time at an Oregon community college, and made another impassioned plea for gun control legislation.

"There has been another mass shooting in America," a stony-faced Obama said in reaction to the shooting by a male gunman at Umpqua Community College in rural Roseburg, which left 10 people dead.

"Somehow this has become routine," said the president. "We become numb to this."

"The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine," said the president, making his 15th statement on a mass shooting since taking office in 2009.

"And what's become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common sense gun legislation."

Obama reiterated his frustration at the failure of the Republican-controlled Congress to back new gun control measures, and threw down the gauntlet to lawmakers.

"Prayers are not enough," he said. "We can actually do something about it, but we're going to have to change our laws."

"This is a political choice we make," Obama said. "This is not something I can do myself. I have to have a Congress and state legislatures and governors who are willing to work with me on this."

"It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."

- 'It doesn't make sense' -

School shootings have become a disturbing reality of American life and many facilities have reinforced security in recent years, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.

When 26 people -- among them 20 young children -- were killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in one of the worst-ever school massacres, many thought it would mark a turning point in the US debate on gun control.

As America reeled in shock, Obama tasked his Vice President Joe Biden to push for movement on the issue in Congress.

But within just four months, hopes for a meaningful reform were dashed, after senators rejected a law that would have made criminal and mental health background checks compulsory for gun purchases online and at gun fairs -- a major political setback for the president.

A furious Obama called it a "shameful day for Washington," placing the blame squarely on the powerful US gun lobby.

Obama also called the US media to account, asking them to set the human cost of gun violence side by side with the -- far lower -- number of people killed in terrorist attacks.

The United States has the highest number of firearms per capita of the developed world, with close to 89 guns in circulation per 100 people -- without counting police and military weaponry.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, an average of 32,000 people died annually from firearms from 2009 to 2013, including about 20,000 suicides per year.

Beyond the political class, the president appealed directly to the public -- voicing hope that perhaps this shooting could be the one that provokes a shift in mindset.

"When Americans are killed in mine disasters, we work to make mines safer. When Americans are killed in floods and hurricanes, we work to make communities safer," Obama said.

"When roads are unsafe, we fix them. To reduce auto fatalities, we have seat belt laws because we know it saves lives."

"The notion that gun violence is somehow different, that our freedom and our constitution prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon... It doesn't make sense."

"So tonight," Obama said, "I'd ask the American people to think about how they can get our government to change these laws.

"And to save lives. And to let young people grow up."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Multiple deaths and injuries after shooting at Oregon college

OREGON - At least 15 people were killed and another 20 wounded at a shooting on Thursday at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon, media reported.

The Portland Oregonian newspaper and CNN reported that a suspect had been taken into custody, citing Douglas County officials. That suspect was not identified.

CNN reported that one of the wounded was a female who had been shot in the chest. There was no immediate information on condition of the other wounded victims.

A spokeswoman for the Douglas County Sheriff's department confirmed to Reuters that there was a shooting at the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg. The spokeswoman had no further details.

"Active shooter scene is code 4. Multiple casualties all pt's transported," the Douglas County Fire Department said in a tweet. Multiple ambulances were reported to be on scene.

The Portland Oregonian newspaper reported that officers responded at around 10:40 a.m. PDT to reports of a shooting at the college. The Oregonian said police scanner traffic indicated that the shooter was "down."

Shelly Stefanich, spokeswoman for Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, said that the hospital was the only one in town and most likely to receive patients, but could not say how many were being treated there.

Local media reported that authorities were combing through the campus.

The paper said agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were en route to Roseburg, a city of about 20,000 people some 260 miles (418 km) south of Portland.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com