News

Gov. Kate Brown Talks Umpqua

by Jenny Hollander

On Thursday, Oregon governor Kate Brown spoke about the Umpqua Community College shooting, which left an estimated 13 people dead earlier that morning. Earlier, Douglas County sheriff John Hanlin told press, "It's been a terrible day," and noted that the gunman was killed during gunfire with officials following the shooting. When Brown took the stage, she said, "Facts are still emerging. We know now there were casualties and confirmed injuries. Our top priority in the medical treatment for victims and the security of the campus."

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 guns were 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.

Brown spoke only briefly, citing her immediate trip to Roseburg, Ore., where the shooting took place.

Of the shooter, Brown confirmed that he was dead, and noted, "He is a 20-year-old male."

Brown was deliberately short on facts, given that so little has been confirmed at present. The shooter has not been identified, although rumors continue to swarm that he had posted on social media prior to the attack. The death and injury toll have also been subject to change in the hours since the shooting, but Oregon attorney general Ellen Rosenblum said before Brown's conference that 13 people had been killed and roughly 20 injured.