The gunman in Thursday's mass shooting at an Oregon community college specifically targeted Christians, three witnesses said, while online accounts linked to the shooter expressed disdain for organized religion.
Authorities say Christopher Harper Mercer killed at least nine people and wounded at least seven others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.
Investigators have shed very little light publicly on Mercer's possible motive for the shooting. However, reports indicated they were examining Mercer's online presence very closely. One law enforcement official described Mercer to The New York Times as appearing to be "an angry young man who was very filled with hate." Another official said investigators were poring over what he described as "hateful"writings by Mercer. Oregon's top federal prosecutor told The Oregonian newspaper that authorities had heard rumors that the gunman had issued "some sort of race-related manifesto" before the shooting.
Kortney Moore, 18, told the Roseburg News-Review that she was in a Writing 115 class when one shot came through the window. Moore said she saw her teacher get shot in the head. The shooter then reportedly told the students to get on the ground before asking people to stand up and state their religion. He then began firing. Moore said she was lying on the ground with people who had been shot.
Twitter user @bodhilooney posted a statement on the social network claiming that her grandmother was inside the classroom.
"If they said they were Christians, they were shot again," Willis said. "[Boylan and another wounded girl] just laid on the ground and pretended they were dead."
The Daily Beast reported that a MySpace page bearing Mercer's name featured an image of him holding a gun, as well as images of Irish Republican Army propaganda. The website also reported that Mercer created an online dating profile that listed "organized religion" as one of his "dislikes". The profile also described Mercer's political views as "conservative, republican."
The New York Post identified the dating site as SpiritualPassions.com and reported that Harper used the screen name "Ironcross45," a possible reference to a WWII decoration awarded to Nazi soldiers.
The Beast reported that the MySpace page is registered to Torrance, Calif., where law enforcement officials said Mercer lived before moving to Oregon.
Federal law enforcement officials told The New York Times they were examining an online conversation on the anonymous message board 4chan that was posted the night before the shooting. In that conversation, one writer says ""Some of you guys are all right [sic][. Don't go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest."
The post made no mention of a shooting, Umpqua Community College, or Roseburg, but did include a photo of a crudely drawn frog with a gun used regularly in Internet memes. The messages that followed spoke of mass shootings, with some egging on and even offering tips to the original poster.
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