The Oregon State Police concluded the investigation and presented the information to Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.
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Chief Burge described the two public servants during the press conference, both hardened veterans of the military and police department.
Roseburg Police detectives Sgt. Joe Kaney and Todd Spingath heard gunshots from the direction of Snyder Hall as soon as they emerged from their vehicle on the morning of October 1. Douglas County received its first 911 call about the active shooter at 10:38 a.m. PDT, and Kaney and Spingath responded because they were only five miles away.
Once the shooter was wounded, he re-entered the classroom, went to the front of the class, and shot and killed himself.
The detectives don’t want to be considered heroes, Burge said, adding they simply feel they were the first to respond and did a job they were trained to do. The shooter then ran back into the classroom and committed suicide.
They and two arriving Oregon State Police troopers ran toward the gunfire to get a better view, the district attorney said.
“I want everyone know of the selfless acts of these officers”, Wesenberg told reporters. As they approached a campus building, Harper-Mercer shot at them from an entrance.
Wesenberg determined that two Roseburg Police Department detectives were justified…
PeaceHealth Medical Center in Springfield said Wednesday that Anastasia Boylan returned home to continue her recovery.
Kaney and Spingath fired three rounds at the gunman, later identified as Chris Harper-Mercer.
Two shots missed. A third hit the shooter on the right side.
It was authorities’ most detailed account yet of the death of 26-year-old Christopher Harper-Mercer, who killed nine other people at Umpqua Community College.
“We’ve had a shooting many years ago where the police stood outside and waited and waited and waited”, recalled Dick Filley of Roseburg.
These men saved lives this day.
Det. Spingath, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who has been with Roseburg PD for 16 years, received a Medal of Valor for the same incident in 2005. “Without the response of the dedicated first responders the magnitude of this event would have been multiplied”, he said.
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Chief Burge said he was proud of the actions of the detectives. “The shooting at UCC showed what awesome character your police officers have and how they are willing to risk their lives for our community”, he said.
