“Many will ask how can they have prevented this?” The campus reopened to faculty for the first time since October 1, when armed suspect Chris Harper-Mercer killed multiple people and wounded several others before taking his own life at Snyder Hall.
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In the meantime, Jan Woodcock, professor of social sciences and humanities, told reporters that her colleagues would spend the week trying to prepare for classes next week.
She attended as a mature student alongside her 18-year-old daughter Shannon, who survived the attack unharmed, The Sun reported.
Bonnie Schaan, the mother of 16-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, said she was told by her daughter that the gunman gave someone an envelope and told him to go to a corner of the classroom.
The 26-year-old also wrote something to the effect of “Other people think I’m insane, but I’m not”.
Smith said Matthew was handed an envelope, with what appeared to be a thumb-size computer hard drive inside. Nine other people were also wounded in the shooting.
Lacey Scroggins also spoke about students being ordered to crawl to the middle of the room before being shot.
Randy Scroggins said the attacker ignored his daughter Lacey because she was covered by the body and blood of another victim. The gunman thought his daughter was dead.
A police source told the Associated Press that Mercer complained in the document about not having a girlfriend.
The family of Quinn Glen Cooper, 18, of Roseburg, who was killed said their lives “are shattered beyond fix…no one should have to feel the pain we are feeling”.
An 18-year-old woman who survived the classroom shooting – Lacey Scroggins – was in the front row at the New Beginnings Church of God on Sunday. “I’m so sorry for your loss”. I’m happy to say that the Oregon Cannabis Association was thinking the same thing, and they setup a fund at Umpqua Bank and US Bank that people can donate to.
One was a 59-year-old student whose daughter was enrolled in the same school but not injured the shooting.
Police soon arrived and, after students were convinced that they were indeed officers, they opened the door.
President Barack Obama will travel to Oregon Friday to meet with relatives of the victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting, a White House official told AFP. A few witness accounts have said that after killing people who said they were Christian he continued to execute others, doing so randomly.
However, conflicting reports emerged about Harper-Mercer’s words as he shot his victims.
The gunman opened fire, striking Mr Mintz who pleaded with the shooter, telling him it was his son’s birthday.
She said: “If you know your son has mental health issues, do you encourage a fascination with guns?”
The gunman, his background and his motive for the shooting are under investigation, Hanlin said.
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Mercer’s family released a statement on Saturday through a spokesperson, saying: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific events that unfolded on Thursday”.
