Oregon gunman kills 10 before being slain in latest US school shooting

LOS ANGELES -- A 20-year-old gunman went on a shooting rampage at a community college in the US state of Oregon on Thursday, 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 in the wake of the shooting, blasting Congress for its failure to act in the face of "routine" mass killings.

The gunman 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.

But US officials have identified the gunman behind the deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon as Chris Harper Mercer, 26, media reported Thursday.

Several media outlets including CNN, CBS and NBC, released Mercer's name.

Media reports said investigators had interviewed Mercer's family and friends and were closely looking at his social media postings for clues.

Reports also said he was not a student at Umpqua Community College, located in rural Roseburg.

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 be 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 lawmakers -- 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."

'Waiting for last bus' 

Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 10:30 am 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 cell 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.

Police searched the entire campus after the shooting aided by sniffer dogs and patted down students and staff as they left and boarded buses that transported them to local fairgrounds.

College interim president Rita Cavin said the priority was to reunite students and staff with their loved ones.

"We have families waiting for the last bus of students to arrive and have grief counselors for those who have no children coming off the bus," she said.

"It's sad to watch the families wait for the last bus."

We all froze 

Roseburg is described as a close-knit, logging community with many locals attending the college, which caters to some 3,300 students.

"Most of us have relatives taking classes here," said Douglas County fire Marshall Ray Shoufler. "Pretty much everybody knows everybody type scenario.

"So something like this affects many, many, many people."

Brady Winder, a student at Umpqua, said he was in class when suddenly he heard a loud pop coming from an adjoining classroom.

He said his teacher called out through the door to see if everything was OK and then further shots rang out.

"We all kind of froze and bolted out the door," Winder said. "I didn't really have any time to think. It was fight or flight."

School shootings are a disturbing reality of American life and many facilities have reinforced security in recent years, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.

Twenty students and six adults were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut by 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

On Wednesday, a student who got into an argument with the principal at a high school in South Dakota pulled a gun and shot the school official in the arm before he was tackled and subdued by staff.

source: interaksyon.com

14 killed in shooting at Denver theater showing Batman film

DENVER, Colorado - A masked gunman killed 14 people and wounded 50 others when he opened fire on moviegoers at a showing of new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in the U.S. city of Denver in the early hours of Friday, police said.


Denver's KOA radio station said a figure in a gas mask had opened fire at the showing in a mall in the suburb of Aurora and set off a smoke or tear gas bomb before shooting erupted.





“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference, adding that a suspect was in custody and that there was no evidence of a second gunman.

Oates said 10 people were killed at the scene and another four died later at local hospitals.

He said the suspect had claimed to have explosives at his residence and that the apartment complex where he lived had been evacuated and was being searched.

Police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN the suspect was in his 20s, wearing body armor and armed with a rifle and two handguns. He added that the gunman had set off some kind of smoke device in order to sow panic.

Witnesses described chaos chillingly similar to that depicted in the Batman films -- in which maniacal villains terrorize Gotham City -- suggesting the movie could have inspired the shooting spree.

They said several audience members had shown up in costumes, which could have allowed the gunman to blend in with the melee and complicated the arrest.

Police did not provide details about the killed and wounded, but the PG-13 film would have attracted scores of teenagers.

Random firing and explosions

One witness cited by the Denver Post said he was watching the film when he heard a series of explosions. Benjamin Fernandez, 30, said people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as officers shouted "Get down!"

Another witness described how, during one of the action scenes, there was gunfire and what sounded like firecrackers, but people thought it was coming from the movie.

"So we just kept watching the movie for a little bit," the witness, identified only as Jack, told ABC television. Then it became clear that there was a real gunman in the theater.

"Everyone started panicking after that, because people were getting hurt," he said.

CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a "guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people." Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion.

"We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out," one witness told CNN.

"As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming." He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask.

One man told the NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theatre filled with thick, choking smoke.

He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded: "I heard moaning...they were in pain."

Columbine remembered

President Barack Obama, who was notified of the shooting on Friday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to "stand together" with the people of Aurora in the hours and days to come.

"Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time," Obama said in a statement.

"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family," he added.

Colorado has suffered mass killings in the past. In 1999, two students opened fire at Columbine High School in the suburb of Littleton, near Denver, killing 12 students and a teacher. – AFP & Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Gunmen seize Saudi diplomat in south Yemen — police

ADEN - Saudi Arabia's deputy consul in Yemen's southern port city of Aden was seized by unknown gunmen outside his home on Wednesday, a police official told AFP.

"Abdullah al-Khalidi was kidnapped while leaving his home in the Mansoura neighborhood of Aden," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said police have launched an investigation into the kidnapping and are actively searching for the diplomat.

"He was taken to an unknown location and we are searching from him," the official added.

This is the second attack against Khalidi in recent months. Late last year, unknown gunmen stopped the diplomat while he was driving in Aden, pulled him from his car and then stole it. He was unharmed.

Aden borders Yemen's lawless southern Abyan province, where al Qaeda linked militants have exploited the weakening central government in Sanaa to strengthen their presence in the country, launching deadly attacks against security forces especially across the restive south and southeast.

The United States says the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is the most active and deadly branch of the global jihadist network.

Since last May, the extremists have increased their control over several towns and villages in the south, including Abyan's capital Zinjibar.

More than 200 people have been abducted in Yemen over the past 15 years, many of them by members of the country's powerful tribes who use them as bargaining chips with the authorities.

Almost all of those kidnapped were later freed unharmed. — AFP

source: gmanetwork.com

Man dies in Australia after stun gun shooting

SYDNEY — An Australian man died after being shocked with a Taser stun gun in central Sydney by police investigating reports of a robbery on Sunday, but officials conceded there may not have been a crime.

The man was zapped with one of the U.S.-manufactured devices after resisting arrest by police responding to reports of a convenience store robbery in Sydney’s central business district at about 5:30 a.m., according to police.

He stopped breathing and could not be revived.

Acting assistant police commissioner Mark Walton said it was uncertain whether a robbery had actually taken place or if the stunned man had been involved.

“It’s unclear as to the involvement of this man or the extent of that actual incident. Whether it is a robbery or not is unclear at this time,” Walton told reporters.

New South Wales (NSW) Premier Barry O’Farrell would not be drawn on the incident until he had been fully briefed, but said his government had “always supported the use of Tasers as a non-lethal alternative” to guns.

Civil rights activists however said the incident highlighted the dangers of the device, which has killed some 500 people worldwide since being introduced in 2001 according to Amnesty International.

“This incident raises serious concerns about the way in which they’re used,” said Cameron Murphy, from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

“What’s a particular concern in this case is… they used both capsicum spray and a Taser on this individual,” added Murphy. “There are serious questions whether that may have led to the person’s death.”

Tasers are meant to incapacitate a person with a 50,000-volt jolt of electricity, but they have been linked to a number of deaths in Australia and around the world.

A five-year study into the use of the weapons published in 2010 showed 85% of cases involved a person with a mental illness and 28% of those targeted were unarmed.

source: japantoday.com