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Gunman dead after Oregon school shooting

Oct 02, 2015
Students, staff and faculty are evacuated from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, after a deadly shooting.  AFP image

Students, staff and faculty are evacuated from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, after a deadly shooting. AFP image

A 20-year-old gunman has gone on a shooting rampage at a community college in the US state of Oregon, killing 10 people and wounding seven before he died in a shootout with police.

A visibly angry President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for gun control after the shooting, blasting Congress for its failure to act in the face of “routine” mass killings.

The unidentified man opened fire in a classroom at Umpqua Community College in rural Roseburg, and moved to other rooms methodically gunning down his victims, witnesses said.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10 people were killed and seven were injured, several critically. He said the identity of the victims would not be released for 24 to 48 hours.

Student Cassandra Welding was in an adjacent room when the shooting broke out.

“I probably heard a good 35 to 40 shots,” Welding told US media.

She saw a fellow student being shot after opening the classroom door to see what was happening, she said.

“Then we locked the doors, turned off the lights and … we were all pretty much in panic mode and called 911 (emergency services) and our parents and (said) ‘I love yous’ because we didn’t know what would happen, if those were our last words.”

Voicing his anger and sadness at the latest loss of life, Obama threw down the gauntlet to legislators – and the people who vote for them – on the thorny issue of gun control.

“Somehow this has become routine,” said the president. “We become numb to this.”

“We can actually do something about it, but we’re going to have to change our laws,” said a stony-faced Obama.

“This is not something I can do myself. I have to have a Congress and state legislatures and governors who are willing to work with me on this.”

“It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun,” Obama said.

“Prayers are not enough,” he added. “This is a political choice we make.”

 

Police officers search Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, after the shooting which killed 10 people AFP photo

Police officers search Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, after the shooting which killed up to 10 people. AFP photo

Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 10.30am and rushed to the site as it was still unfolding.

“Upon arriving there, they located the shooter in one of the buildings,” Hanlin said, adding that police exchanged fire with the gunman who was later confirmed dead.

It was not yet known if the shooter, identified only as a male aged 20, was a student at the college.

Authorities said investigators were examining social media postings thought to belong to him. Several reports said he may have shared his intentions online beforehand.

Other reports said police recovered a mobile phone at the scene, presumably the shooter’s, that contained messages linked to the massacre.

Authorities said four weapons were recovered from the scene, according to local news reports.

– AFP

 

 

 

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