The gunman who killed his English professor and eight others at an Oregon community college committed suicide after a shootout with police who arrived within five minutes and exchanged fire with him almost immediately, authorities said. Investigators had previously said the 26-year-old shooter was killed by the officers who raced to the rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, which ranks as the deadliest among dozens of US mass shootings in the past two years.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told a news conference on Saturday the state medical examiner had determined that the gunman, Christopher Harper-Mercer, took his own life.
Releasing a timeline of the massacre's first hour, Hanlin said two Roseburg police officers were on the scene within five minutes, and reported to dispatch that they engaged the gunman just two minutes later. Hanlin said they "neutralised" him. "Officers responded immediately ... there was an exchange of gunfire, (and) the shooter was neutralised," the sheriff said. "As far as the very specific information regarding whether it was an officer's bullet or his own bullet, we aren't prepared at this time to discuss."
Hanlin said an additional handgun was also recovered from the shooter's apartment, making a total of 14 weapons seized: eight from his home, and six he took to the college. Harper-Mercer was officially identified on Friday as the assailant who survivors said stormed into the classroom of his introductory writing class on Thursday and shot the professor at point-blank range, before picking off other victims one at a time as he questioned each about their religion and whether they were Christians. Authorities have disclosed little of what they may know about the gunman's motives.
Citing unnamed sources, CNN said he left a statement that showed animosity toward blacks. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the investigation.
Bonnie Schaan, mother of 16-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald who was shot in the attack, said her daughter told her the shooter chose a male student and handed him an envelope. In a brief statement on Saturday, the gunman's family said they were "shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific events."
The New York Daily News reported that the gunman's mother, Laurel Harper, had stockpiled firearms, fearing stricter gun laws and had sought out a shooting range that would let her and her son shoot without supervision.