Sheriff: I won't name the gunman
Print Edition
THE Oregon sheriff investigating the execution-style killing of at least nine people in a college classroom yesterday refused to identify the suspect, saying he wanted to deny the shooter notoriety, the ultimate prize he sought in the bloodshed.
A day after the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, residents of the quiet former timber town struggled to comprehend the deadliest mass killing this year in the United States.
The gunman also wounded nine people in the rampage and died in an exchange of gunfire with police.
Law enforcement sources confirmed reports identifying the suspect as Chris Hharper-Mercer, 26, who lived with his mother in nearby Winchester.
In a blog post linked to him, Hharper-Mercer said he relished the headlines garnered by Vester Flanagan, the man who shot dead two reporters during a live broadcast in Virginia in August before killing himself.
“A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone ... Seems the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight,”the post read.
In a highly unusual step, Douglas County Sheriff John vowed never to utter the gunman’s name and said he would let the coroner identify the gunman.
“I don’t want to glorify his name. I don’t want to glorify his cause,” Hhanlin, an outspoken defender of gun ownership, told CNN.
The gunman stormed into a classroom at the college that serves mostly older students
in career transitions, shot a professor at point-blank range, then ordered cowering
students to stand up and state their religion before he shot them one by one, according to survivors’ accounts.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown declined to discuss gun control in interviews yesterday, as did the sheriff, and said it was a time for healing the community.
A month after the December 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hhook Eelementary School in Connecticut, wrote a letter to Vice President Joe Biden that defended the right to bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
“Gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings,” Hhanlin wrote in the letter, dated January 15, 2013.
Just hours after Thursday’s shooting, a visibly angry President Barack Obama urged Americans to press their elected leaders to enact tougher firearms safety laws.
“Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here, at this podium, ends up being routine,” he said. “We’ve become numb to this.”
In a photo posted on what was believed to be the gunman’s MySpace profile, a young man with a shaved head and dark-rimmed eyeglasses stares into the camera while holding a rifle.
Ian Mercer, the gunman’s father, told reporters outside his home in Los Angeles on Thursday: “It’s been a devastating day, devastating for me and my family.”
Authorities offered no motive for the shooting. Hhanlin said local detectives and federal agents were still investigating.
The Mass Shooting Tracker website, a database kept by anti-gun activists, said there had been 293 mass shootings this year, not counting Thursday’s incident.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
