Many feared dead in American college shooting

AT LEAST seven people have been killed and 20 injured in a shooting at a south-western Oregon community college, state police say.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Oct 2015, 22:26 BST
A patient is wheeled into the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Ore., following a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (Aaron Yost/Roseburg News-Review via AP)A patient is wheeled into the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Ore., following a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (Aaron Yost/Roseburg News-Review via AP)
A patient is wheeled into the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Ore., following a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (Aaron Yost/Roseburg News-Review via AP)

The shooting happened at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland.

The local fire district advised people via Twitter to stay away from the school. It later tweeted that there were “multiple casualties,” but didn’t elaborate.

Some reports said as many as 13 had been killed.

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Police Lt Bill Fugate told KATU-TV that seven to 10 people were dead and at least 20 others were injured. A photographer for the Roseburg News-Review newspaper said he saw people being loaded into multiple ambulances and taken to the local hospital.

Umpqua Community College has about 3,000 students. Its website was down on Thursday, and a phone message left at the school wasn’t immediately returned.

A spokeswoman for the Oregon department that oversees community colleges in the state said she had not received any detailed information about the shooting.

“It’s extremely concerning and sad,” said Endi Hartigan, for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

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The rural town of Roseburg lies west of the Cascade Mountains. The timber industry has struggled there, and authorities in recent years have tried to promote the area as a tourist destination for wine growing and outdoor activities.

A US police spokeswoman later said there was “no more threat’ from the shooting at the college.

The White House said President Barack Obama has been briefed by his homeland security adviser about the shooting.

Meanwhile, Oregon senator Jeff Merkley said he was “absolutely heartbroken” about the shooting and he has been in touch with local officials to express his condolences and offer assistance.

The congressman who represents the south-west Oregon city where the shooting happened said the incident is a “heartbreaking tragedy”.