Father blames access to guns
Mercer’s father, Ian Mercer, says he doesn’t know where his son got his weapons.
How on earth could he compile 13 guns? How could that happen? We talk about gun laws. We talk about gun control. Every time something like this happens, they talk about it and nothing gets done. I’m not trying to say that that’s to blame for what happened, but if Chris had not been able to get hold of 13 guns, this wouldn’t have happened…It has to change. How can it not? Even people that believe in the right to bear arms, what right do you have to take people’s lives? That’s what guns are, the killers. Simple as that. Simple as that. It’s black and white. What do you want a gun for?
On his son’s mental state:
Obviously, somebody who goes and kills nine people has to have some kind of issue. Whatever it is, let the police determine what they find.
Died by suicide
The Douglas County sheriff says autopsy results showed that Mercer died by suicide.
Note left at scene
Law enforcement officials say Mercer left a note at the scene of the killings. They say the multi-page typed note was a philosophical rant of someone who was mad at the world. The officials say Mercer lamented the fact that he did not have a girlfriend.
[He] felt the world was against him [and that he would be] welcomed in Hell and embraced by the devil. He wrote that he was ‘in a bad way. He was depressed, sullen. He said he had no life. He felt the world was against him.
Weapons purchased legally
The ATF Bureau says thirteen weapons, six from the school and seven from Mercer’s residence, were purchased legally. All of the weapons were traced to a federal firearms dealer. Seven of the weapons were purchased by the shooter or his family members in the last three years. Law enforcement also recovered a jacket with steel plates and additional magazines.
Admired Roanoke shooter
In a blog under the name Lithium_Love, an online identity linked to Mercer, he expresses admiration for Roanoke shooter Vester Flanagan.
People like him have nothing left to live for. On an interesting note, I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are… A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight.
Shot seven times
Family members say Mintz, and army veteran, was shot seven times while trying to save other students during the Umpqua killings. He was shot in the back, abdomen and hands, and has two broken legs, and has been in surgery since the shooting.
[He] tried to protect some people. We were told he did heroic things to protect some people…We’re not sure how his legs got broken. He was on the wrestling team and and he’s done cage-fighting so it does not surprise me that he would act heroically…It was a great, great shock … We’ve all been sitting on pins and needles and praying very hard.
A message on Mintz’s Facebook:
This is Chris’s friend, Chris asked me to thank everyone for their support, he is grateful and keeping our community and all victims in his thoughts.