Oregon shooter was a 'good kid' or 'not a friendly type of guy' — depending on whom you ask

(Image credit: Reuters/New York Times Video)

published 2 October 2015

Umpqua Community College shooter Chris Harper Mercer, 26, who opened fire in a lecture hall and killed nine people on Thursday before he was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement, was labeled by those in his life as either a "good kid" or "not a friendly type of guy," depending on whom you asked.

A native of Torrance, California, The New York Times writes that Mercer was described by former neighbors as being "a reclusive and seemingly fragile young man with a shaved head and dark glasses who seemed to recoil from social interaction." Others said he was withdrawn, wore the same outfit everyday, and was "fiercely protected" by his mother, Laurel Harper, with whom he shared a one-bedroom apartment.

Mr. Mercer's mother sought to protect him from all manner of neighborhood annoyances, former neighbors in Torrance said, from loud children and barking dogs to household pests. Once, neighbors said, she went door-to-door with a petition to get the landlord to exterminate cockroaches in her apartment, saying they bothered her son."She said, 'My son is dealing with some mental issues, and the roaches are really irritating him,'" Julia Winstead, 55, said. "She said they were going to go stay in a motel. Until that time, I didn't know she had a son." [The New York Times]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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