Investigators piece together motive of Oregon shooter
October 03, 2015
Officials said the gunman, identified as Chris Harper Mercer, was enrolled in the English writing class at Umpqua Community College, where the shooting broke out.
He died following a shootout with police.
Some unconfirmed reports said Mercer was shot and wounded by police but managed to run away and then shot himself.
The Los Angeles Times, quoting local police, said Mercer entered the class around 10:30 am, after it had started, and began firing.
Investigators said 13 weapons belonging to the gunman had been recovered, including six at the school. A flak jacket and five rounds of ammunition were also recovered at the school.
The shooting, the latest in a string of similar attacks in recent years at colleges and schools in the United States, has revived a fierce debate on gun control.
Officials say Mercer had struggled with mental health problems for some time and left behind a typed statement several pages long in which he indicated he felt lonely and was inspired by previous mass killings.
"He didn´t have a girlfriend and he was upset about that," The New York Times quoted an unnamed senior law enforcement official as saying.
"He comes across thinking of himself as a loser," the official told the paper.
"He did not like his lot in life, and it seemed like nothing was going right for him."
Another official said the shooter, who lived with his mother, was obsessed with guns and religion and had leanings toward white supremacy.
It was unclear how long he had been a student at Umpqua, a small college of about 3,000 students located in Roseburg, a close-knit rural community.
The rampage took place on the fourth day of the new school year.
Several students said Mercer had also signed up for a theatre class that had not yet started.
Witnesses said he asked his victims their religion before shooting them execution-style.
