Christian Targets: College shooting leaves at least 10 dead

Students come forward reporting shooter wanted Christians.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced a school shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon on Thursday, which left at least ten people dead. Reports have come forward that the shooter was targeting Christian students.

ROSEBURG, OREGON (Catholic Online) - State police Lt. Bill Fugate told KATU-TV at least twenty other people were hurt.

KOIN-TV reported the college went into lockdown when officers responded to the "active shooter." Despite being a "gun-free" campus, former UCC President Joe Olson said there were no formal security staff members on the campus. All they had was one unarmed security officer who worked a single shift each day.

"The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian," wrote a woman claiming her grandma was in one of the rooms attacked. "If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no, or didn't answer, they were shot in the legs. My grandma just got to my house, and she was in the room. She wasn't shot, but she is very upset."

Kortney Moore, an 18-year-old student at Umpqua Community College in the massacred room also told Oregon News Review that the killer was going after Christians.

The Public Safety Response recording caught an officer saying, "We are exchanging shots with him, he's in the classroom. Shortly after the message, Dougas County Commissioner Chris Boice confirmed, "The suspect is down!"

Sheriff John Hanlin reported the suspect was killed and no officers were injured during the shooting. "It's been a terrible day," he added.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown described the gunman only as a 20-year-old man. "Our top priority now is the medical treatment of the victims and the security of the campus," she said.

Students told NBC News the shooting took place in Snyder Hall.

23-year-old Courtney Rennie, a human services student, said, "I was walking into class, and I heard what sounded like a car backfiring. You don't even think that's somebody shooting a gun. I kept envisioning someone is going to come around the corner and, and shoot the windows out."

Navy veteran Kenny Ungerman, a first year medical program student, was talking to a National Guard recruiter when they heard the gun firing.

"It sounded like a handgun. It wasn't loud enough to be an assault rifle. Then I saw a guy with a handgun right outside -he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He was going toward the building, and he just disappeared into the building.

That was when Ungerman heard people screaming "He has a gun! He's shooting!"
"I only saw him for a split second," Ungerman admitted.

The American Association of Community Colleges and the Association of Community College Trustees came together to deliver a joint statement, where they shared the shooting was a "tragedy" and that they were committed to on-campus safety and security.

They also admitted "while campus safety is of the utmost priority, due to the open nature, college and university campuses are susceptible to these types of events."

Several other agencies joined state and local police at the scene as Mercy Medical Center reported it was treating nine patients and expected four more. Sacred Heart General Hospital, a major trauma center, reported three patients would be arriving by helicopter.

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