A 20-year-old gunman went on a shooting rampage at a community college in the US state of Oregon on Thursday, killing 13 people and wounding seven before he died in a shootout with police.
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.
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."
Brady Winder, a student at Umpqua, said he was in class when suddenly he heard a loud pop coming from an adjoining classroom.
Roseburg is described as a close-knit, logging community with many locals attending the college, which caters to some 3,300 students.
College interim president Rita Cavin said the priority was to reunite students and staff with their loved ones.
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
Other reports said police recovered a cell phone at the scene, presumably the shooter's, that contained messages linked to the massacre.
Authorities said investigators were examining social media postings thought to belong to him. Several reports said he may have shared his intentions online beforehand.
It was not yet known if the shooter, identified only as a male aged 20, was a student at the college.
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
"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."
"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
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.
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.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 13 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.
The unidentified man opened fire in a classroom at Umpqua Community College in rural Roseburg, and moved to other rooms methodically gunning down his victims, witnesses said.
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.
School shooting shakes the United States once again