A visibly angry President Barack Obama has
made an impassioned plea for gun control
after a shooting at an Oregon college left 10
dead and seven wounded, saying such
tragedies had become “routine”.
Barack Obama
In the close-knit community of Roseburg,
large crowds turned out for a candlelight vigil
for the victims of Thursday’s killing spree at
Umpqua Community College, which ended
with the assailant dying during a shootout
with police.
“Somehow this has become routine,” Obama
said of the attack, as he blasted Congress for
its failure to act in the face of such killings.
“We’ve become numb to 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.”
“Prayers are not enough,” the stony-faced
president said. “We can actually do something
about it, but we’re going to have to change
our laws.”
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10
people were killed and seven were injured,
several critically.
Witnesses described scenes of terror and
panic as the tragedy unfolded at the school,
located in a picturesque rural region of
Oregon.
The gunman — identified by US media as 26-
year-old Chris Harper Mercer — opened fire
in a classroom, then moved to other rooms,
methodically gunning down his victims.
One man whose daughter was wounded told
CNN that the gunman, who did not attend the
school, ordered students to identify themselves
if they were Christian and then shot them.
“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.
He said his daughter, who survived by playing
dead, told him the shooter burst into the
classroom and first shot the professor point
blank.
As the community struggled for answers, the
gunman’s motives — whether religious hatred
or a desire for notoriety — remained
unknown. It is not known whether he had a
history of mental illness.
– ‘Not a friendly type’ –
Neighbors described Mercer as a withdrawn,
anxious young man who lived with his
mother.
They told the New York Times he wore the
same outfit every day — combat boots, green
army pants and a white T-shirt.
“He was not a friendly type of guy,” Bronte
Hart, who lived in the apartment below
Mercer’s in Winchester, Oregon, told the
newspaper. “He did not want anything to do
with anyone.”
At the candlelight vigil, families prayed,
consoled one another and held their children
tight in the chill night air.
They brought flowers and made signs and
arranged candles to form the letters UCC, the
college’s initials.
The college draws 3,300 students from
surrounding communities, so the loss was
close to home for many in Roseburg.
“Pretty much ‘everybody knows everybody’
type scenario,” Douglas County fire marshall
Ray Shufler said.
“So something like this affects many, many,
many people.”
Cassandra Welding, a student at Umpqua, said
she heard 35 to 40 shots coming from an
adjacent classroom and saw a fellow student
get shot as she opened the door to check on
the noise.
“Then we locked the doors, turned off the
lights and … we were all pretty much in panic
mode and called 911 and our parents and
(said) ‘I love yous’ because we didn’t know
what would happen, if those were our last
words.”
Brady Winder, another student at Umpqua,
said he was in class when suddenly he heard a
loud pop coming from an adjoining classroom.
He said his teacher called out through the
door to see if everything was OK and then
further shots rang out.
“We all kind of froze and bolted out the
door,” Winder said. “I didn’t really have any
time to think. It was fight or flight.”
County Sheriff Hanlin said police were alerted
to the shooting at 10:38 am and rushed to the
site where two officers cornered the gunman
and exchanged fire with him. He was later
confirmed dead.
“You will never hear me mention his name,”
Hanlin said of the shooter. “I will not give him
the credit he probably sought prior to this
horrific and cowardly act.”
– Disturbing reality –
Authorities said investigators were examining
social media postings thought to belong to the
shooter. Several reports said he may have
shared his intentions online beforehand.
Other reports said police recovered three
handguns and an assault rifle at the scene
along with a cell phone that presumably
belonged to the shooter, who wore a bullet
proof vest.
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 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.
When will this rubbish stop?? Being christian is not a crime!
made an impassioned plea for gun control
after a shooting at an Oregon college left 10
dead and seven wounded, saying such
tragedies had become “routine”.
Barack Obama
In the close-knit community of Roseburg,
large crowds turned out for a candlelight vigil
for the victims of Thursday’s killing spree at
Umpqua Community College, which ended
with the assailant dying during a shootout
with police.
“Somehow this has become routine,” Obama
said of the attack, as he blasted Congress for
its failure to act in the face of such killings.
“We’ve become numb to 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.”
“Prayers are not enough,” the stony-faced
president said. “We can actually do something
about it, but we’re going to have to change
our laws.”
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10
people were killed and seven were injured,
several critically.
Witnesses described scenes of terror and
panic as the tragedy unfolded at the school,
located in a picturesque rural region of
Oregon.
The gunman — identified by US media as 26-
year-old Chris Harper Mercer — opened fire
in a classroom, then moved to other rooms,
methodically gunning down his victims.
One man whose daughter was wounded told
CNN that the gunman, who did not attend the
school, ordered students to identify themselves
if they were Christian and then shot them.
“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.
He said his daughter, who survived by playing
dead, told him the shooter burst into the
classroom and first shot the professor point
blank.
As the community struggled for answers, the
gunman’s motives — whether religious hatred
or a desire for notoriety — remained
unknown. It is not known whether he had a
history of mental illness.
– ‘Not a friendly type’ –
Neighbors described Mercer as a withdrawn,
anxious young man who lived with his
mother.
They told the New York Times he wore the
same outfit every day — combat boots, green
army pants and a white T-shirt.
“He was not a friendly type of guy,” Bronte
Hart, who lived in the apartment below
Mercer’s in Winchester, Oregon, told the
newspaper. “He did not want anything to do
with anyone.”
At the candlelight vigil, families prayed,
consoled one another and held their children
tight in the chill night air.
They brought flowers and made signs and
arranged candles to form the letters UCC, the
college’s initials.
The college draws 3,300 students from
surrounding communities, so the loss was
close to home for many in Roseburg.
“Pretty much ‘everybody knows everybody’
type scenario,” Douglas County fire marshall
Ray Shufler said.
“So something like this affects many, many,
many people.”
Cassandra Welding, a student at Umpqua, said
she heard 35 to 40 shots coming from an
adjacent classroom and saw a fellow student
get shot as she opened the door to check on
the noise.
“Then we locked the doors, turned off the
lights and … we were all pretty much in panic
mode and called 911 and our parents and
(said) ‘I love yous’ because we didn’t know
what would happen, if those were our last
words.”
Brady Winder, another student at Umpqua,
said he was in class when suddenly he heard a
loud pop coming from an adjoining classroom.
He said his teacher called out through the
door to see if everything was OK and then
further shots rang out.
“We all kind of froze and bolted out the
door,” Winder said. “I didn’t really have any
time to think. It was fight or flight.”
County Sheriff Hanlin said police were alerted
to the shooting at 10:38 am and rushed to the
site where two officers cornered the gunman
and exchanged fire with him. He was later
confirmed dead.
“You will never hear me mention his name,”
Hanlin said of the shooter. “I will not give him
the credit he probably sought prior to this
horrific and cowardly act.”
– Disturbing reality –
Authorities said investigators were examining
social media postings thought to belong to the
shooter. Several reports said he may have
shared his intentions online beforehand.
Other reports said police recovered three
handguns and an assault rifle at the scene
along with a cell phone that presumably
belonged to the shooter, who wore a bullet
proof vest.
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 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.
When will this rubbish stop?? Being christian is not a crime!
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