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 Others said he was withdrawn, wore the same outfit everyday, and was "fiercely protected" by his mother, Laurel Harper, with whom he shared a one-bedroom apartment.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]
Others described Mercer as at least outgoing enough to yell at neighbors from his balcony. "He was not a friendly type of guy," said Bronte Hart, who lived below Mercer. "He did not want to have anything to do with anyone."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
But Carmen Nesnick, Mercer's stepsister, knew a different side of him. "All he ever did was put everyone before himself," she said. "It doesn't sound right." Jeva Lange
-
4 easy tips to avoid bank feesThe Explainer A few dollars here and there might seem insignificant, but it all adds up
-
4 often overlooked home maintenance tasks that could cost you laterThe Explainer A little upkeep now can save you money down the road
-
What are the pros and cons of a Roth conversion for retirement?Pros and Cons By converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, retirees can skip paying taxes on their withdrawals
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
