Oregon shooting: nine dead in attack on community college

Nine people were killed and seven injured when a gunman opened fire at a community college in Oregon, the latest in a series of mass shootings in the United States.

The gunman was killed in a police shootout after beginning his attack in a science classroom at the Umpqua Community College in the rural town of Roseburg.

Police have identified the shooter as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer. "He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate," said one police officer. US media reports indicate that he was born in England and moved to the US as a young boy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Though his motives are unknown, survivors report that the gunman singled people out because of their religion. Student Anastasia Boylan said he asked students to stand up if they were Christians.

"And they would stand up and he said, 'Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second,' " Boylan's father told CNN. "And then he shot and killed them."

Police are investigating the gunman's online presence, which hints at an interest in mass shooting and the IRA, according to The Guardian.

Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelit vigil in Roseburg, with the head of Umpqua college describing it as "the saddest day in the history of the college."

The latest mass shooting provoked an emotional response from President Barack Obama, who said America had become "numb" to gun violence. He once again called for tougher gun controls, but acknowledged his own powerlessness to prevent another tragedy, the New York Times reports.

"This is not something I can do by myself," he said. "I've got to have a Congress and I've got to have state legislatures and governors who are willing to work with me on this."

"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," he said. "But based on my experience as President, I can't guarantee that."