'Shocked, Shocked Is All I Can Say': Shooter's Family Reacts To Mercer's Umpqua Killing

Tragedy had struck on early Friday, when 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer gunned down people, after asking what their religion was.

Mercer had carried firearms when he went into a writing class at the community college, according to radaronline.

In a subsequent gunfire exchange with the cops, Mercer was killed. Umpqua, with 3,000 students, got back to its classes last week.

The gunman's father Ian Mercer living in Tarzana, California, said that Thursday was a "devastating day," and that he had been hard at work when disaster struck. "Shocked, shocked is all I can say: Obviously it's been a devastating day, devastating for me and my family ... all I ask is please respect our privacy," he said.

In Oregon, Mercer's mother was reportedly "crying her eyes out" after the rampage. His step-sister Carmen Nesnick reported that she had been "stunned" when she heard about him, as she knew that he was a "selfless" individual.

"All he ever did was put everyone before himself - he wanted everyone to be happy," she said.

Hannah Miles, who was teaching in a classroom nearby, said that after the shooting, students "began to run ... going every which way." Miles said that at one point, she "turned around, and I saw students pouring out of the building ... we started to run to center of campus."

Sarah Cobb, who was in a room nearby, said that she was "freaking out" when she heard shots fired. "I didn't know what to think, what to do."

Mercer's neighbors who had observed him gave a lot of information on his shooting. One neighbour Bronte Harte said that he had "seemed really unfriendly," and that he had a habit of sitting "by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light."

In a blog two months ago, Harper-Mercer had appreciated Vester Flanagan, after the ex-news anchor had shot dead two former co-workers in Virginia in a series of stunning videos. "Seems the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight," he wrote. "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."

He added, "Anyone who knew him could have seen this coming ... people like him have nothing left to live for, and the only thing left to do is lash out at a society that has abandoned them."