Nine people killed in mass shooting at Oregon community college

ROSEBURG, Ore. — A rural community college became the site of America’s latest mass shooting on Thursday as a lone gunman burst into classrooms during the school day and mowed down terrified students before being shot dead in a firefight with police, authorities said.

Officials said nine people were killed, plus the gunman, and seven injured during the traumatic events at Umpqua Community College, about three hours south of Portland.

A U.S. law enforcement official identified the gunman as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer of Winchester, Ore. He was described wearing a dark shirt and jeans who spewed bullets from what appeared to be three pistols and possibly a semiautomatic rifle. Police have refused to identify the shooter so far, but a U.S. official gave his name as Chris Harper Mercer.

Students told of hiding between desks and huddling in darkness as the shooter methodically sought out his victims. Some military-veteran students guarded the doors, which did not lock, in case the shooter tried to enter.

“There’s a shooter! Run! Run! Get out of there!” groups of students screamed as they ran out of Snyder Hall, where the rampage apparently started, according to Kenneth Ungerman, 25, a student at the college. Ungerman said he and a National Guard recruiter sought cover underneath his Jeep, then rolled out from under it “and took off,” he said.

 

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