10 dead, 20 injured in shooting at Oregon community college

[JohnDoe2]

MASS MURDER


'Filled with hate': Witnesses say Oregon gunman targeted Christians in community college mass murder

Published October 02, 2015 FoxNews.com




The gunman in Thursday's mass murder at an Oregon community college specifically targeted Christians, three witnesses said, while online accounts linked to the shooter expressed disdain for organized religion.

Authorities say Christopher Harper Mercer killed at least nine people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.

One victim remains in critical condition at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, according to chief medical officer Dr. Jason Gray. He said his hospital received 10 patients.

One student said the shooting began when a bullet flew through a classroom window, hitting her teacher in the head.

Kortney Moore, 18, told the Roseburg News-Review that the shooter then burst into the room and ordered students to get on the ground, before asking people to stand up and state their religion. He then began firing. Moore said she was lying on the ground with people who had been shot.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said the initial calls about the shooting came in at 10:38 a.m. He told reporters that the shooter died after engaging in a gunfight with responding officers, either in or near a classroom.

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Investigators found "a number of firearms" at the gunman's apartment, according to Sheriff Hanlin. He says details on the number and types of weapons will be released later Friday. An official tells the New York Times that Mercer had three weapons during the shooting, including at least one long gun.

The shooting sparked panic at the usually quiet college, more than 70 miles south of Eugene. Some students ran for their lives, while others crammed into buses taking them to safety.

Student Hannah Miles said, "A lot of my classmates were going every which way. We started to run to center of campus. And I turned around, and I saw students pouring out of the building."

Investigators have shed very little light publicly on Mercer's possible motive for the shooting. However, reports indicated they were examining Mercer's online presence very closely. One law enforcement official described Mercer to The New York Times as appearing to be "an angry young man who was very filled with hate."

Another official said investigators were poring over what he described as "hateful" writings by Mercer. Oregon's top federal prosecutor told The Oregonian newspaper that authorities had heard rumors that the gunman had issued "some sort of race-related manifesto" before the shooting.

Twitter user @bodhilooney posted a statement on the social network claiming that her grandmother was inside the classroom.

Janet Willis told the Los Angeles Times that her 18-year-old granddaughter, Ana Boylan, had been shot in the back and was airlifted to a hospital in Eugene. Willis said Boylan told her that the gunman asked others in the classroom to rise and state their religion.

"If they said they were Christians, they were shot again," Willis said.

"[Boylan and another wounded girl] just laid on the ground and pretended they were dead."

Mercer's father says he's as shocked as anybody else. Ian Mercer spoke to KABC-TV and several other media outlets gathered outside his house in Tarzana, California late Thursday night.

He said it's been a "devastating day" for him and his family and said he has been talking to police and the FBI about the shooting.

He refused to answer questions and asked that his family's privacy be respected.

The Daily Beast reported that a MySpace page bearing Chris Harper Mercer's name featured an image of him holding a gun, as well as images of Irish Republican Army propaganda. The website also reported that Mercer created an online dating profile that listed "organized religion" as one of his "dislikes". The profile also described Mercer's political views as "conservative, republican."

Mercer "seemed really unfriendly" and would "sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light," according to neighbor Bronte Harte, speaking to the Associated Press.

The New York Post identified the dating site as SpiritualPassions.com and reported that Mercer used the screen name "Ironcross45," a possible reference to a WWII decoration awarded to Nazi soldiers.

Federal law enforcement officials told The New York Times they were examining an online conversation on the anonymous message board 4chan that was posted the night before the shooting. In that conversation, one writer says, "Some of you guys are all right [sic]. Don't go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest."

The post made no mention of a shooting, Umpqua Community College, or Roseburg, but did include a photo of a crudely drawn frog with a gun used regularly in Internet memes. The messages that followed spoke of mass shootings, with some egging on and even offering tips to the original poster.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/02/witnesses-say-oregon-gunman-targeted-christians-in-community-college-shooting/?intcmp=hpbt1

[JohnDoe2]

I'm sure this story will be going on over the next few days. Maybe we'll get more information and facts during that time. Sounds like a possible Islam supporter to me, but I don't want to jump to conclusions until we have more facts.

But some people who don't have access to ALL of the witnesses
or ALL of the evidence
who weren't on campus during the shooting
or in the aftermath of the shooting
people who have never been on the campus
or talked to one person who was there
will miraculously know more about what happened
than the law enforcement officers who will conduct a thorough weeks long investigation.

They will fingerprint every gun and every bullet
trace the ownership of every gun
who bought it, where, when
who bought the bullets, when, how many
check bank records and credit card records,
interview every witness
and people who knew him in the past.

But some people will still claim to know more than the investigators. Some already have.

[JohnDoe2]

Oregon gunman Chris Harper-Mercer lived in Torrance, graduated from Switzer Center The Daily Breeze‎ - 13 hours ago

... attended a school for teens with emotional disabilities.Records show Harper-Mercer,26, ...


Oregon gunman Chris Harper-Mercer lived in Torrance, graduated from Switzer Center


This photo appears on a MySpace page belonging to Chris Harper-Mercer. The caption reads, "Me, holding a rifle. It was supposed to be all the way in the picture, but it didn't work out. Only the barrel shows." (MySpace photo)

By Larry Altman, Daily Breeze
and Nick Green, Daily Breeze
POSTED: 10/01/15, 7:29 PM PDT | UPDATED: 2 MINS AGO

This photo shows an aerial view of Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Ore., where the deadly shooting occurred, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (Thomas Boyd /The Oregonian via AP)

Chris Harper Mercer, the man accused of opening fire at a rural Oregon community college Thursday, formerly lived in the South Bay and attended a school for teens with emotional disabilities.

Records show Harper-Mercer, 26, lived in a ground-floor apartment on Arlington Avenue at 230th Street in Torrance with his mother, Laurel Harper, from 2011 to 2013. The owner of the building said he did not know them and neighbors did not recall them.

But current residents, greeted by reporters knocking at their doors late Thursday, were shocked to learn that the man suspected of committing the nation’s latest mass shooting had lived in their building.

“It’s extremely surreal,” said resident Shannon Medrano. “I don’t remember him. If I could see a picture of his mom, maybe it could jog some memory. I wonder what his experience was like here. This is not a big building. I’m sure we crossed paths at some point.”

Lists of South Bay graduates from 2009 published in the Daily Breeze showed Harper Mercer graduated from the Switzer Learning Center in Torrance with four other students. Switzer teaches students with learning disabilities and emotional issues.

A former behavioral aide at Switzer, who did not want her name used, said the majority of the students at the school are from foster, low-income and single-parent homes. Some of these students were expelled from other schools or had been in trouble with the law.

The school is divided among special needs students and those with behavioral problems.

Records showed Harper Mercer and his mother moved to Winchester, Ore., in 2013. In addition to Torrance, Harper showed previous addresses in Lomita, Harbor Gateway and Lomita.

CBS News reported that Harper Mercer’s stepsister said he was born in England and moved to the United States as a young boy. Harper Mercer’s father, who lives in Tarzana, married her mother, and the stepsister said the last time she spoke with Harper-Mercer was a year ago.

In Torrance, Medrano said it was shocking to learn Harper Mercer reportedly shot his victims after asking them if they were Christian.

“I wonder what happened in his life that brought him to that point,” Medrano said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

On a profile that appeared to belong to Harper-Mercer on the Spiritual Passions dating website, where he listed himself as Ironcross45, Harper Mercer said he was “looking for someone who shares my beliefs, and is similar to me.”

He described himself as a straight college student, a “teetotaller,” a conservative Republican and into punk industrial rock music. He described his interests and hobbies as “Internet, killing zombies, movies, music, reading.”

“Socially, I am shy at first, but warm up quickly, better in small groups,” he wrote. “I’m looking for romance, soulmate, conversation ... the yin to my yang, dating, penpal, friends only, relationship, miss right.”

He described himself as “not religious” and listed his groups as “Doesn’t Like Organized Religion,’ “Left-hnd path,” “Magick and Occult,” and “Not Religious but Spiritual.”

Witnesses said the shooter at Umpqua Community College near Roseburg, Ore., asked his victims whether they were Christians. Those who said they were reportedly were shot in the head, while others were shot in the legs. At least 10 people were killed.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-n...switzer-center

[JohnDoe2]

What we know about Oregon shooter Chris Harper Mercer

CBS News‎ - 13 hours ago

The anti-Christ shooter is a mixed-race, teetotaling Nazi

New York Post‎ - 12 hours ago



October 1, 2015, 11:11 PM
What we know about Oregon shooter Chris Harper Mercer

A neighbor of the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Oregon college, killing nine people, said he "seemed really unfriendly."

Play VIDEO
26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer identified as college shooting suspect


Bronte Hart lived below 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer in the community of Winchester. She said Mercer would "sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light."

Hart said a woman she believed to be Mercer's mother also lived upstairs and was "crying her eyes out" Thursday night.

Two law enforcement sources told CBS News Mercer was the man who opened fire at Umpqua Community College, killing nine people and wounding seven others. He died after exchanging gunfire with responding officers.

An undated photo of suspected Oregon college shooter Chris Harper Mercer.

MYSPACE.COM/CBS LOS ANGELES

Law enforcement sources also told CBS News four guns -- a combination of pistols and a rifle -- were found at the scene of the shooting.

CBS Los Angeles reported Mercer had ties to the Los Angeles-area communities of Torrance and Tarzana.

Mercer's stepsister told the station he was born in England and traveled to the United States as a young boy. She said Mercer's father, who lives in Tarzana, married her mom and that the last time she spoke with Mercer was a year ago.

In Torrance, neighbors told CBS Los Angeles that Mercer lived there a few years ago and kept mostly to himself.

Play VIDEO
Witness describes deadly barrage


Posts on an online blog that appears to belong to Mercer reference multiple shootings, including one in Virginia in August that left a television news reporter and cameraman dead. The last upload on the blog was Wednesday. when a documentary about the Newtown shooting was posted.

In one post on the blog about Vester Flanagan, the man who killed the reporter and cameraman in Virginia, Mercer apparently wrote, "I have noticed that so many people like [Flanagan] are alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems like the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight."

29 PHOTOS
Umpqua Community College shooting


An online dating profile that appears to belong to Mercer lists his hobbies and interests as "Internet, killing zombies, movies, music, reading." Under ethnicity, it says "mixed race" and his relationship status says "single -- never married."

The profile also says he is currently in college and lives with his parents, is a Republican and not religious. It also says he doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs.

One of the groups on the site that he belongs to is called "Doesn't Like Organized Religion."

A witness to the shooting, Kortney Moore, told the Roseburg News-Review newspaper that she was in a writing class when a shot came through a window.

She said the gunman entered her classroom, told people to get on the ground and then asked people to stand up and state their religion before opening fire.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/umpqua-c...harper-mercer/

[JohnDoe2]

Gunman had white supremacy, anti-religion leanings, sources say


Nine people were killed and at least 10 injured by a gunman at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday. The gunman was later killed in a shootout with police.

Michael Muskal, Marisa Gerber and Richard A. SerranoContact Reporters

Chris Harper Mercer, the shooter in the attack at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, was a "hate-filled" individual, who held anti-religion, anti-government and white supremacy leanings, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

During the Thursday rampage, Mercer, 26, wore body armor and had extra ammunition, although it is unclear whether he carried the ammunition during the shooting or left it in his car, a federal source said Friday.

Police were inspecting all of the cars left in school lots, said the source, who was not identified because the investigation is continuing.

The attack left 10 dead, including Mercer, and at least 10 injured.

Mercer's, who was also obsessed with guns, left behind an angry, hate-filled note, said another source who was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The gunman, who was killed in an gunfight with police, also liked to discuss military history, sources said.


The family of Chris Harper-Mercer, who is suspected of killing at least nine people in Thursday's college classroom shooting in Oregon, says they are in shock. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).


Overnight, officials searched Mercer's apartment and recovered weapons, said Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin.

Further details are expected to be released at news conferences later in the day.

Hanlin also said investigators interviewed neighbors and others at the college to learn more details about Mercer.

Local hospitals were strained by the sudden flow of wounded and dead.

Ten people were treated at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Jason Gray of the center told reporters on Friday.

“Yesterday was a challenging day,” Gray told reporters. “The days and weeks ahead will be the most challenging” as the rural community of about 22,000 people tries to deal with the aftermath of the shooting that touched almost everyone’s life.


Oregon college shooting updates: Weapons found in the apartment of gunman Chris Harper Mercer

“The initial emotions are disbelief,” Gray said. “It's still very raw.”

But he'd found some comfort, he said, in the outpouring of support from across the country.

Retired physicians came in Thursday to offer help and people in Louisiana and Georgia had pizzas delivered to the hospital staff. Someone else sent coffee.

Mercy Medical Center Chief Executive Kelly Morgan said many people on staff trained at Umpqua Community College and he said he expected many employees knew victims.

“I assure you,” he said, “every single person at the hospital will be impacted.”

None of the victims was named. Gray said they were men and women of varying ages, saying the average age skewed young.

Some of the victims' injuries, he said, included gunshot wounds to the abdomen and head.

Of those treated, one died, two were quickly treated and released and three were transferred to a hospital near Eugene for higher-level care, Gray said.

Of the four remaining patients, one was discharged late Thursday and one is expected to leave Friday.

One patient was listed in stable and one in critical condition, he said.

The shooting is the latest is a series of attacks on educational institutions that has left scores dead. Each has prompted calls for tougher gun control laws.

FULL COVERAGE: Oregon college shooting >>

Hanlin spoke out against state and federal gun-control legislation last year, telling a state legislative committee that mandating background checks for private, person-to-person gun sales would not prevent criminals from getting firearms.

Hanlin also sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden after the 2012 shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

Hanlin said he and his deputies would refuse to enforce new gun-control restrictions “offending the constitutional rights of my citizens.”

Hanlin told CNN on Friday that his position on gun control had not changed following Thursday's shooting in his town.

The White House's failed push for gun-control legislation after the Newtown shooting — in which 20 children and six adults were killed at an elementary school — deeply frustrated President Obama, who was visibly upset as he addressed the nation after Thursday’s attack.

“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, and that will require a change of politics on this issue,” Obama said.

Obama said there is a gun for roughly every man, woman and child in the United States. He asked how anyone with a straight face can make the argument that more guns will make people safer.

“I hope and pray that I don't have to come out again during my tenure as president to offer my condolences to families in these circumstances,” Obama said. “But based on my experience as president, I can't guarantee that. And that's terrible to say.”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...002-story.html

[JohnDoe2]

OCTOBER 2, 2015

The Latest: Shooter had 3 pistols, rifle, 5 extra magazines

ROSEBURG, ORE. The latest on a deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon (all times local):
9:20 a.m.




A young man uses his cellphone at the county fairgrounds in Roseburg, Ore., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, following a deadly shooting at nearby Umpqua Community College.

Students and faculty were bused to the fairgrounds where counselors were available and some parents waited for their children. Ryan Kang AP Photo


A federal agency says the gunman who killed nine people at an Oregon community college had body armor and was armed with three pistols, a rifle and five additional magazines.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives provided the information late Thursday in an incident report obtained by The Associated Press. The guns included a 9mm Glock pistol and .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, both traced to the suspect.

He also had a .40-caliber Taurus pistol traced to someone in Portland and a .556-caliber Del-Ton.
The shooting Thursday at Umpqua (UHMP'-kwah) Community College also wounded seven. Officials identified the killer as Chris Harper Mercer. He died after a shootout with police.

He isn't believed to have a criminal history.

Investigators believe he may have been a student there because a receipt found at the scene showed he purchased textbooks from the campus bookstore two days before the shooting.
---
7:03 a.m.
Social media profiles linked to a 26-year-old shooter who killed at least 9 people at a southern Oregon college suggested he was fascinated by the IRA, frustrated by traditional organized religion and tracked other mass shootings.

There didn't seem to be many recent connections on the social media sites linked to Chris Harper Mercer, with his MySpace page just showing two friends. He appeared to have at least one online dating profile.

On a torrents streaming site and blog that appeared to belong to Mercer, posts referenced multiple shootings and downloads included several horror films and a documentary on a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

A blog post urged readers to watch the online footage of Vester Flanagan shooting two former colleagues on live TV in Virginia, while another lamented materialism as preventing spiritual development.

A MySpace page that appeared to belong to Mercer included several photos and graphics of the Irish Republican Army as well as a picture of Mercer holding a rifle.
---
6:51 a.m.
A doctor says one victim of the deadly mass shooting at an Oregon community college will likely be released from a hospital Friday.

Dr. Jason Gray of Mercy Medical Center says the hospital in Roseburg, which is 180 miles south of Portland, received 10 patients Thursday — one died, two were quickly treated and released and three were transferred to a hospital near Eugene for a higher level of care.

Of the four remaining patients, one was discharged late Thursday, and one was expected to leave Friday. Gray says the other two are expected to survive, but one remains in critical condition.

The three patients who needed additional care were transferred to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. The Eugene-area hospital says in a news release that two of them are in critical condition and one is in serious condition.
---
6:02 a.m.
Authorities investigating a deadly mass shooting at an Oregon community college say they have found a number of firearms at the gunman's apartment.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told television stations in Eugene, Oregon, early Friday that investigators were at Umpqua (UHMP'-kwah) Community College and the shooter's nearby apartment throughout the night. He says investigators will release details on the number and types of weapons later Friday.

Officials identified the gunman as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer and say he opened fire at the college Thursday, killing nine people and wounding seven others before dying during an exchange of gunfire with officers.
Hanlin also says investigators went door to door in the neighborhoods near the college and the shooter's apartment to try to learn more details.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-wo...e37316589.html

[JohnDoe2]

I'm sure this story will be going on over the next few days. Maybe we'll get more information and facts during that time. Sounds like a possible Islam supporter to me, but I don't want to jump to conclusions until we have more facts.

Since you were willing to wait for more FACTS I gathered some for you.

[JohnDoe2]

ATF Says Oregon Shooter Had Total Of 13 Weapons At School, Home
by: AP
updated: Friday, October 2, 2015

ROSEBURG, Ore. (SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP) — In a news conference updating the investigation of a mass shooting at UCC that left 10 people dead, and multiple others wounded, representatives from the ATF confirmed the shooter had a total of 13 weapons in his possession, both at school and at home.

The Associated Press and CNN both reported that multiple law enforcement sources had identified the shooter as Chris Harper Mercer, 26.

Sheriff John Hanlin said he would not utter the shooter's name, arguing "this will only serve to inspire future shooters."

ATF official Celinez Nunez told reporters in a news conference Friday that six weapons were found on the college campus, seven others were found at Mercer's home nearby, where he reportedly lived with his mother.

Nunez confirmed the guns were all obtained legally, both by the shooter, and some of his family members.

Five magazine rounds were found next to a flak jacket at the crime scene, Nunez said.

It is unknown how many of the 13 guns were purchased by Mercer.

The sheriff urged the public to send in any video or photographs to help law enforcement with their investigation.

---

ROSEBURG, Ore. — A gunman opened fire inside a classroom at a rural Oregon community college Thursday, killing at least nine people before dying in a shootout with police, authorities said. One survivor said he demanded his victims state their religion before he started shooting.

The attack shattered the first week of classes at Umpqua Community College in the small timber town of Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland.

The killer was identified as Chris Harper Mercer, 26, said a government official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided the name on condition of anonymity. Authorities shed no light on the shooter's motive and said they were investigating.

Hannah Miles, a 19-year-old freshman, was in her writing class when her teacher got a call from security saying the school was in lockdown. She heard gunshots from a neighboring classroom.

Huddled together in the locked classroom, the students and teacher heard a footsteps outside and a man's voice call out to them, "Come on out, come on out," Miles said. They remained quiet and didn't open the door.

Police soon arrived, Miles said, and after students were convinced that it was indeed officers, they opened the door.

"It was like a huge burden had been lifted," she said. "A huge sigh of relief that we were going to be OK."

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said at least two officers acted heroically in the shootout, but it was not clear if the gunman was killed by authorities or whether he took his own life.

At a news conference, a visibly angry Hanlin said he would not name the shooter.

"I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act," he said.

Late Thursday, hundreds gathered at a local park for a vigil for the victims. Many held up candles as the hymn "Amazing Grace" was played.

Mercer had been living at an apartment complex in nearby Winchester. Yellow police tape surrounded the building Thursday night.

A neighbor, Bronte Harte, said Mercer would "sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light."

Hart said a woman she believed to be Mercer's mother also lived upstairs and was "crying her eyes out" Thursday.

Sarah Cobb, 17, was in a writing class when gunfire erupted in the next room. She heard a shot, but thought a book had fallen. Then a teacher said they needed to get out, and the class ran out the door as she heard two more shots.

"I was freaking out. I didn't know what to think, what to do," she said.

Distressed parents rushed to the county fairgrounds, where students were being taken by bus to reunite with families.

Jessica Chandler was at the fairgrounds desperately seeking information about her 18-year-old daughter, Rebecka Carnes.

"I don't know where she is. I don't know if she's wounded. I have no idea where she's at," Chandler said.

Carnes' best friend told Chandler that her daughter had been flown by helicopter to a hospital, but she had not been able to find her at area medical centers.

The sheriff said 10 people were dead and seven wounded. An FBI spokeswoman said the gunman was included in that number. Earlier, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said 13 people had been killed. It was unclear what led to the discrepancy.

"It's been a terrible day," a grim-faced Hanlin said. "Certainly this is a huge shock to our community."

Hours after the attack, a frustrated President Barack Obama spoke to reporters at the White House, saying the U.S. is becoming numb to mass shootings and that the shooters have "sickness" in their minds.

Repeating his support for tighter gun-control measures, the president said thoughts and prayers are no longer enough in such situations because they do nothing to stop similar attacks from happening a few weeks or months later. He challenged voters wanting to confront the problem to vote for elected officials who will act.

Police began receiving calls about a campus shooting at 10:38 a.m. The school has a single unarmed security guard.

Kortney Moore, 18, said she was in a writing class when a shot came through the window and hit the teacher in the head.

The gunman then entered the Snyder Hall classroom and told people to get on the floor, she told the Roseburg News-Review newspaper.

He told people to stand up and state their religion before opening fire.

Next door, students heard a loud thud and then a volley of gunfire, Brady Winder, 23, told the newspaper.

Students scrambled "like ants, people screaming, 'Get out!'" Winder said. He said one woman swam across a creek to get away.

The gunfire sparked panic as students ran for safety and police and ambulances rushed to the scene.

Lorie Andrews, who lives across the street from the campus, heard what sounded like fireworks and then saw police cruisers streaming in. She spoke with students as they left.

"One girl came out wrapped in a blanket with blood on her," she said.

Some students were in tears. Police lined them up in a parking lot with their hands over their heads and searched them.

Roseburg is no stranger to school gun violence. A freshman at the local high school shot and wounded a fellow student in 2006.

The sheriff has been vocal in opposing state and federal gun-control legislation. In 2013, Hanlin sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden after the shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school, declaring that he and his deputies would refuse to enforce new gun-control restrictions "offending the constitutional rights of my citizens."

Before the Roseburg shooting, a posting on the message-board site 4chan included a photo of a crudely drawn frog used regularly in Internet memes with a gun and warned other users not to go to school Thursday in the Northwest. The messages that followed spoke of mass shootings, with some egging on and even offering tips to the original poster. It was unclear if the messages were tied to the shooting because of the largely anonymous nature of the site.

Roseburg is in Douglas County, a politically conservative region west of the Cascade Range where people like to hunt and fish and pursue other outdoor activities. Many of the students in local schools go on to attend the college of 3,000 students.

Former UCC President Joe Olson, who retired in June after four years, said the school had no formal security staff, just one officer on a shift.

One of the biggest debates on campus last year was whether to post armed security officers on campus to respond to a shooting.

"I suspect this is going to start a discussion across the country about how community colleges prepare themselves for events like this," he said.

There were no immediate plans to upgrade security on the campus in light of the shooting, Cavin said.

http://www.wchstv.com/news/features/...l#.Vg7MrflViko

[JohnDoe2]

Chris Harper Mercer was discharged from Army, Pentagon confirms


Chris Harper Mercer (MySpace) more >

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times - Friday, October 2, 2015

Chris Harper Mercer, the Umpqua Community College shooting suspect, was in basic training with the U.S. Army in North Carolina for one month in 2008, before the Army discharged him.

“A review of Army records indicate that Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer was in service at Ft. Jackson, S.C., from 5 November-11 December 2008 but discharged for failing to meet the minimum administrative standards to serve in the U.S. Army,” the Pentagon said in a news release, CNN reported Friday.

The U.S. Army confirmed to ABC News that the gunman was indeed enrolled in basic training in 2008.

On Thursday, Mr. Mercer opened fire at the community college in Roseburg, Oregon. Nine people were killed and seven injured in the attack. He reportedly targeted Christians for execution.
Mercer was then fatally shot by police.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...om-army-penta/

[JohnDoe2]