A tragic incident occurred in Roseburg, Oregon where a gunman opened fire at Umpqua Community College on Thursday October 1, 2015, that cost nine innocent people their lives and left countless wounded. The community at Umpqua Community College is holding strong as they try to prevail through this seemingly senseless act. Dr. Rita Cavin UCC Interim President had this to say as they start rebuilding “This is the saddest day in the 50 year history of UCC. Our hearts go out to every student, every employee, and every family touched by this tragedy. “I want to thank all of our friends and neighbors who have dropped everything to help us. Over the next weeks, we will come together to accept offers of help and care so that we can assist one another.”

Chris Harper-Mercer opened fire in one building apparently “an English class” according to students and UCC Interim President Dr. Rita Cavin. Then he moved to the school’s science building. Students and faculty during the shooting hid behind backpacks and chairs and underneath tables as they were all in panic mode. Cassandra Welding, a student stated “We locked the doors, turned off the lights, and we were all pretty much in panic mode,” she said. “We called 911 and called our parents, our loved ones. … We didn’t know what was going to happen, if those were our last words or not.” The nine victims who died in the massacre ranged in age from 18 to 67. Their names were Lucero Alcaraz, 19; Treven Taylor Anspach, 20; Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18; Quinn Glen Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18. Unfortunately the rest of the victims’ names were Jason Dale Johnson, 34; Lawrence Levine, 67; and Sarena Dawn Moore, 44. Two of the people killed were members of the local EMS and fire department.

Students and faculty who were wounded and or killed were found in at least two classrooms per officials at the scene. “We arrived to find multiple patients in multiple classrooms. Once law enforcement arrived on scene the shooter was “neutralized,” said Douglas County Fire Marshal Ray Shoufler. Mercy Medical Center, a hospital in the area posted online they received 10 patients and at the time the extent of their injuries was unknown. There were three pistols and one rifle recovered at the scene believed to have belonged to the suspected shooter. ATF agents also were on scene with canine teams on their way to search for explosives, fire arms casings and ammunition. Roseburg is a city of about 22,000 people about 70 miles south of Eugene, Oregon. According to CNN military analyst Rick Francona, who lives nearby “the school itself is up on hill and this incident is so out of character for the whole area.”

As news of this shooting quickly reached Washington as state seniors passed along their prayers to the victims, survivors and their families, it wasn’t before long President Obama weighed in. He vehemently pushed for a change in gun laws as he lamented “Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We’ve become numb to this.” The President continued: “Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel, and it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America — next week, or a couple months from now.”

This shooting infiltrated this relatively small town college whose average age of its 13,600 students during the 2013-2014 year was 38. Out those 13,600 only 740 were full time and 2,437 were part time and more than 10,000 fell under the umbrella of “community education.” It first began teaching classes out of rented facilities in 1961. Elton and Ruth Jackson donated 98.5 acres to house the campus in 1965. The school will be closed until and classes will resume Monday October 12, 2015 as a result of this tragic incident. In a timeline released by investigators the first 911 call about the shooting came in around 10:38 a.m. Six minutes later, two Roseburg police officers and a state trooper arrived on the scene. At 10:46 a.m., the officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter. Two minutes later, there was a report of “suspect down,” according to the timeline. The state medical examiner at the time determined the gunman’s death was a suicide but that remains to be seen.

Ian Mercer, The father of the shooter sent out his thoughts to the victims and their families as he was just distraught by the news his son was the killer. He stated “I know words cannot bring families back. I know there’s nothing that I can say that can change what happened.” He continued “But please believe me, my thoughts are with all of those families and I hope they can get through this.” Mercer said his son lived in Oregon with his mother and he hadn’t seen his son since they moved two years ago. Their father and son was a good relationship stating “They talked and went out to dinner and did things sons and dads do.” Later adding he was unaware his son had any firearms as he was great believer you don’t buy guns you simply don’t buy guns. At that time he did not disclose whether his son had emotional or mental issues adding, “That is for investigators to determine.”

One student account of how she escaped the shooter is harrowing. Bonnie Schaan said at a news conference Saturday October 3^rd, her daughter, Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, stated the shooter handed an envelope to one person in the room and told that student he was the lucky one and to stand in the corner. Fitzgerald was asked her religion and when she didn’t answer, she was shot in the back, her mother said. The bullet clipped one lung and lodged in a kidney, which doctors removed. Her daughter survived by playing dead, Schaan said. Fitzgerald remains in critical condition. In conjunction with the firearms found and collected at the scene it was reported 14 firearms believed to have belonged to the shooter were at his apartment and his home.

All the weapons in the possession of the shooter were obtained legally by himself and or family members over the past three years through a federally licensed firearms dealer. Currently investigators are pursuing blog posts by someone with an email address associated with Chris Harper-Mercer the shooter. The writings include feelings of anger about being isolated and unable to form relationships, law enforcement officials said. Apparently it is believed he had a Myspace page under the user name “lithium love” where posts about other recent shootings, one about Vester Flanagan, who killed two local news reporters in Virginia, and one about an officer slain near Houston in August were posted. At this time investigators have found no indication the shooter was linked to any organized groups. The shooter served in the Army from November to December of 2008 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, but was “discharged for failing to meet the minimum administrative standards,” the Pentagon said.

Chris Harper-Mercer, the shooter was a current student at Umpqua prior to the shootings and was enrolled in English and theater classes. He went to the college October 1^st 2015, heavily armed and wearing body armor. In some survivor accounts he singled out Christians and entered a classroom firing and told the professor teaching “I’ve been waiting to do this for years,” and shot him point blank. While reloading his handgun, he ordered the students to stand up and asked whether they were Christians. If they were in fact Christians he stated, “Good, because you’re going to see God in just about one second.” Rebecca Miles, a student who took the theater class with the shooter said “He was a little odd, like sensitive to things.” Steven Fisher, a neighbor who lived near the shooter described him as “skittish.” “His demeanor, the way he moved, always looking around,” Fisher said. “I got a bad vibe from him.” Chris Harper-Mercer, apparently committed suicide after exchanging gunfire with officers, according to Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin.

As for the 10 wounded people taken to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg Dr. Jason Gray, the hospital’s chief medical officer had this to say “All those people had gunshot wounds to the head, abdomen and limbs. And three people with gunshot wounds to the head were transferred to Peace Health Sacred Medical Center in Springfield.” Kathleen Nickel, a hospital spokeswoman continued one of those patients with a gunshot wound is in critical condition and two are in serious conditions. Four patients underwent surgery at Mercy Medical, Gray said. “One is in critical condition and two are in fair to good condition”, he said. Roseburg Oregon as a community and us as a nation are working to put the pieces together as we rebuild after this senseless and tragic act of violence. If you wish to donate The Greater Douglas United Way is accepting donations via text and online at http://www.gduway.org/UCCgive and The Umpqua Community College Foundation is accepting donations online and by mail through the website http://www.umpqua.edu/scholarships-donations .