Conflicting reports are emerging about whether the gunman who killed nine people at an Oregon community college singled out Christians as his victims.
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Kortney Moore, 18, said she was in a writing class when a shot came through the window and hit the teacher in the head.
A local pastor, Randy Scroggins said his daughter recalled the gunman rounding up students on the classroom floor and opening fire.
“He was able to stand there and start asking people one by one what their religion was”, Boylan said, relating the ordeal as described by his daughter.
Chris Harper Mercer carried out the shooting before killing himself as police arrived at the scene on 1 October.
The gunman, who shot dead an English professor and eight others, was identified as a student in the class who previously had been turned away from a private firearms training academy.
(AP Photo/John Locher). Michael Garwood places flowers at a makeshift memorial near the road that leads to Umpqua Community College, Friday, October 2, 2015, in Roseburg, Ore.
Among those to have championed the gun rights cause in the past was Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, who has refused since the shooting to comment on the debate and has repeatedly declined to name the Roseburg gunman during news conferences.
Officers responded and found the gunman on campus.
Chaplains who had been on campus said they were both helping with and participating in the healing process.
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he’s deeply saddened to learn of the latest mass shooting and has urged the United States to take action to curb gun violence, saying it’s taking an appalling toll on American society.
As a 26-year-old killer gunned down victims inside a college classroom, he spared one student and gave him a package to deliver to authorities, according to the grandmother of a student who witnessed the deadly rampage in Oregon. The shooting happened at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., about 180 miles south of Portland. “Seems like the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight”.
Andrea Zielinski, spokeswoman for Douglas County sheriff’s office, says the threat to the school has subsided.
She added: “I’m actually still shaking and my mom is in there crying”.
At the president’s request, he’ll continue to receive updates throughout the day.
Cheyeanne was struck just below her shoulder blade by a bullet that clipped her lung and lodged in her kidney, which had to be removed in surgery, her family said. “I will forever call your son my hero”, he said of 20-year-old Treven Anspach.
Families of victims of the Oregon community college shooting rampage and at least one survivor have attended tearful church services in Roseburg. Merkley says he’s been in touch with local officials to express his condolences and offer assistance.
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When pastor Jon Nutter got a text message last Thursday about the shooting and realized how many had been killed or injured, he immediately formed a prayer circle at Starbucks where he was sitting. Nutter said parishioners will also be divided into small groups, to pray for the victims and first responders and share their feelings about the shooting with each other.
