Update: On Friday, it was confirmed that there were nine victim fatalities and that Mercer killed himself after Thursday's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College. On Saturday, there were reports that Mercer handed out a box to a fellow classmate that possibly contained his final note. The note that Mercer left detailed his depression and loneliness. In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Mercer's father wondered how his estranged son was able to obtain 13 guns. Mercer was a student at the college and was enrolled in the writing class where he opened fire. He previously attended a school for mentally unstable children and was briefly enrolled in the U.S. Army in 2008, before he was kicked out a month in for not demonstrating the basic administrative standards required to serve. All of his gunswere purchased legally.
The victims' names were released Friday night: Lucero Alcaraz, 19; Treven Taylor Anspach, 20; Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18; Quinn Glen Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18; Jason Dale Johnson, 33;Lawrence Levine, 67 (assistant professor); Sarena Dawn Moore, 44.
Earlier: Oregon state police have reported that a shooting Thursday at Umpqua Community College left multiple people dead and many wounded. The Oregon Attorney General says that 13 people are dead, and the shooter is also dead, according to the county sheriff. But where did this devastating tragedy take place? Umpqua Community College is located in Roseburg, Oregon, in Douglas County. It has roughly 3,300 full-time students. The college was reportedly placed on lockdown around 10:45 a.m. PT, after shots were fired. Students and faculty were apparently rushed to the Douglas County Fairgrounds for safety after the shooting began, and multiple ambulances arrived at the scene.
Roseburg has about 22,000 residents, and is roughly 70 miles south of Eugene and 180 miles south of Portland, in the central-west part of the state. The community college's campus features a variety of sporting facilities, and even a vineyard. Police have not released the name of the shooter, but officials have reported that the he was a 20-year-old white male. The Huffington Post noted in its report Thursday that the Oregon shooting is the 45th reported school shooting this year.
And here's the latest:
