'America's Gun Violence Epidemic' Continues with Mass Shooting in Oregon

A scene at on Thursday. (Photo: The News-Review)

'America's Gun Violence Epidemic' Continues with Mass Shooting in Oregon

Thirteen people are reportedly dead following a shooting at Oregon community college

Thirteen people are reportedly dead, and 20 are wounded, after a shooting on Thursday at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon.

The mass shooting at Umpqua Community College (UCC) took place around 10:40 am PST. Police units from multiple jurisdictions responded, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

"We arrived to find multiple patients in multiple classrooms. Law enforcement was on scene and had the shooter neutralized," Douglas County Fire Marshal Ray Shoufler toldCNN.

Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice told CNN that the shooter is in custody. It was not immediately clear whether the shooter was injured.

Jared Norman, a nursing student at UCC, told local publication NRToday that "he heard shots and then everyone was running. He is locked down in the cafeteria with 50 other students right now. They've heard there is a shooting, but they don't know what's going on. And they're scared."

According to the Eugene Register-Guard:

A witness at the scene says the shooter was a male and acted alone. He was shot by police. Multiple witnesses saying shooting isolated to one classroom: a writing and speech class in Snyder Hall.

None of those details have been confirmed by police.

The White House responded to news of the shooting by expressing frustration on gun control. According toThe Hill, press secretary Josh Earnest noted that the "vast majority of Americans" support stricter gun laws, including closing the so-called gun-show loophole. But he said President Barack Obama is "realistic" about the dim prospects of congressional action on gun control.

"The president has been quite candid about how this is and has been a source of frustration for him," Earnest said.

And Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said: "We join the rest of the nation in shock, horror, and grief as the news of today's school shooting in Oregon continues to unfold. What should have been a sanctuary for education and a symbol of bright futures will now become the latest memorial of victims lost to America's gun violence epidemic."

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