The gunman who opened fire in an Oregon college shot one classmate after saying he could save her life by begging, and others were killed after being told to crawl across the floor, according to relatives of students in the classroom.
Authorities have not disclosed whether they have an envelope or package from Chris Harper-Mercer, who Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said on Saturday >killed himself as officers arrived. But a law enforcement official said a manifesto of several pages had been recovered.
Bonnie Schaan, the mother of 16-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, said she was told by her 16-year-old daughter that the gunman gave someone an envelope and told him to go to a corner of the classroom.
Relatives of other survivors of the shooting that killed nine also said Harper-Mercer gave something to a student in the class.
Pastor Randy Scroggins, whose 18-year-old daughter Lacey escaped without physical injuries, said she told him that the gunman called to a student, saying, “‘Don’t worry, you’re the one who is going to survive.’”
Rev. Scroggins also said his daughter heard the gunman tell one victim he would spare that person’s life if the student begged, then shot the begging victim anyway.
Ms. Lacey Scroggins also spoke about students being ordered to crawl to the middle of the room before being shot. Rev. Scroggins said his daughter survived because she was lying on the floor and partially covered by the body and blood of a fellow student. The gunman thought Ms. Lacey Scroggins was dead as well, stepped over her and shot someone else.
Rev. Scroggins received a phone call from that student’s mother while speaking with The Associated Press.
“He saved my girl. I will forever call your son my hero,” he said of 20-year-old Treven Anspach. He told the man’s mother he would mention her son during his Sunday church service and ask for prayers. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Janet Willis said her granddaughter Anastasia Boylan was wounded in the Thursday attack and pretended to be dead as Harper-Mercer kept firing, killing eight students and a teacher.
Ms. Willis said she visited her 18-year-old granddaughter in a hospital in Eugene, where the sobbing Ms. Boylan told her, “‘Grandma, he killed my teacher!’”
Ms. Boylan also said the shooter told one student in the writing class to stand in a corner, handed him a package and told him to deliver it to authorities, Ms. Willis said.
The law enforcement official who disclosed the existence of the manifesto did not reveal its contents but described it as an effort to leave a message for law enforcement.
The official is familiar with the investigation but was not authorised to disclose information and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The official said the document was left at the scene of the shooting but wouldn’t specify how authorities obtained it.
Ms. Boylan, a freshman at Umpqua Community College, also told her grandmother the gunman asked students about their faith.
“If they said they were Christian, he shot them in the head,” Ms. Willis said, citing the account given by her granddaughter.
Stephanie Salas, the mother of Rand McGowan, another student who survived, said she was told by her son that the shooter asked victims whether they were religious, but didn’t specifically target Christians.
Ms. Salas said it was like telling the victims “you’re going to be meeting your maker”.
Ms. Salas said the gunman told victims “‘this won’t hurt very long’” before shooting them.
Law enforcement officials haven’t given details about what happened in the classroom. However they released a timeline that shows police arrived at the scene six minutes after the first emergency call and exchanged gunfire with the shooter two minutes later.
The dead ranged in age from 18 to 67 in the attack in Roseburg, a rural timber town about 290 km south of Portland.
Oregon’s top federal prosecutor said the shooter used a handgun when he opened fire.
Several years ago, Harper-Mercer moved to Oregon from Torrance, California, with his mother Laurel Harper.
Rev. Scroggins said he was grateful his daughter survived Harper-Mercer’s attack.
“There’s been a lot of emotion,” he said. “But others don’t get their children back.”
