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Officials Identify Oregon Gunman, Victims Still Being Treated
By: Associated Press
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Authorities investigating a deadly mass shooting at an Oregon community college say they have found a number of firearms at the gunman’s apartment.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told television stations in Eugene, Oregon, early Friday that investigators were at Umpqua Community College and the shooter’s nearby apartment throughout the night. He says investigators will release details on the number and types of weapons later Friday.
Officials identified the gunman as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer and say he opened fire at the college Thursday, killing nine people and wounding seven others before dying during an exchange of gunfire with officers.
Hanlin also says investigators went door to door in the neighborhoods near the college and the shooter’s apartment to try to learn more details.
Social media profiles linked to the shooter suggested he was fascinated by the IRA, frustrated by traditional organized religion and tracked other mass shootings.
There didn’t seem to be many recent connections on the social media sites linked to Mercer, with his MySpace page just showing two friends. He appeared to have at least one online dating profile.
On a torrents streaming site and blog that appeared to belong to Mercer, posts referenced multiple shootings and downloads included several horror films and a documentary on a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
A blog post urged readers to watch the online footage of Vester Flanagan shooting two former colleagues on live TV in Virginia, while another lamented materialism as preventing spiritual development.
A MySpace page that appeared to belong to Mercer included several photos and graphics of the Irish Republican Army as well as a picture of Mercer holding a rifle.
A doctor says one victim of the deadly mass shooting at an Oregon community college will likely be released from a hospital Friday.
Dr. Jason Gray of Mercy Medical Center says the hospital in Roseburg, which is 180 miles south of Portland, received 10 patients Thursday – one died, two were quickly treated and released and three were transferred to a hospital near Eugene for a higher level of care.
Of the four remaining patients, one was discharged late Thursday, and one was expected to leave Friday. Gray says the other two are expected to survive, but one remains in critical condition.
The three patients who needed additional care were transferred to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. The Eugene-area hospital says in a news release that two of them are in critical condition and one is in serious condition.