Suspected US college shooter Chris Harper Mercer, who killed nine people before being fatally shot, asked his victims to state their religion before shooting them, a witness said.
The 26-year-old suspected gunman, who has been named by
US media but not identified by police, killed nine people and injured
seven during a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
According to reports, Chris Harper Mercer was born in
the UK and moved to America as a young child. His social media profiles
featured content supporting the IRA and witnesses said he asked victims
to state their religion before shooting.
Stacy Boylan, a father of an 18-year-old student who was
wounded in the shootings, told CNN that his daughter was asked what her
religion was before the gunman shot a college professor.
'Are you a Christian?'
Mr Boylan relayed what his daughter described to him:
"'Are you a Christian?' he would ask them. ... 'If you're a Christian,
stand up. Good. Because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in
just about one second,' and he shot and killed them. And he kept going
down the line doing this to people."
Father of the suspected gunman, Ian Mercer, said he was
"shocked" by the massacre. He told reporters, "I'm just as shocked as
everybody at what happened today. I've just been talking to the police
and the FBI. That's all the details I have right now, is what you know
already."
"Obviously, it's been a devastating day. Devastating for me and my family. Shocked, shocked is all I can say."
In the 45th school shooting in the US this year, the
gunman opened fire in the college on Thursday. One eye witnesses
described hearing gunshots and hiding in a nearby bookshop as police
were called.
Umpqua Community College student Hannah Miles, 19, said: "We were not sure what was going on, but what we knew or thought was gunshots.
"We locked the doors and the next thing we know, we hear three or four more gun shots and everyone just looked at each other. And we knew something was going on. This was real."
Sheriff John Hanlin, from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office refused to name the gunman: "I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act."
Police have not identified a motive for the shootings, but said they were investigating reports that he warned of his intentions on social media.
Umpqua Community College student Hannah Miles, 19, said: "We were not sure what was going on, but what we knew or thought was gunshots.
"We locked the doors and the next thing we know, we hear three or four more gun shots and everyone just looked at each other. And we knew something was going on. This was real."
Sheriff John Hanlin, from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office refused to name the gunman: "I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act."
Police have not identified a motive for the shootings, but said they were investigating reports that he warned of his intentions on social media.
Just hours after the attack, President Barack Obama gave a speech directing anger towards gun violence in the US.
He said: "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.
"This is a political choice that we make to allow this
to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable
to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction."
