A gunman burst into a community college in southwest Oregon on Thursday and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding seven others before police shot him to death, authorities said, in the latest mass killing in America.
The suspect, who witnesses say fired dozens of shots into a classroom full of screaming students, was then slain in an exchange of gunfire with police in Snyder Hall at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg following the rampage shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time (1730 GMT).
He was not identified by local authorities but CBS, CNN and NBC named him as 26-year-old Chris Harper, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
CNN reported that three handguns and a “long gun” belonging to him were recovered from the scene.
The massacre in Roseburg, a former timber town in Umpqua River Valley, is the latest in a series of mass shootings at U.S. college campuses, movie theaters, military bases and churches in recent years. It marked the deadliest since a shooting rampage in June at a South Carolina church that killed nine.
The killings have fueled demands for more gun control in the United States, where ownership of firearms is protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and better care for the mentally ill.
President Barack Obama, speaking just hours after the rampage, said the mass killing should move Americans to demand greater gun controls from elected officials.
“Somehow this has become routine,” a visibly angry Obama said. “The reporting is routine. My response here, at this podium, ends up being routine. …We’ve become numb to this.”
Click here to read more about Umpqua Community College shooting.
