US college shooter confirmed dead

  • 02/10/2015
US college shooter confirmed dead

A gunman who killed several people at a community college in the US state of Oregon, is now dead, a local official says.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told a news conference that officers headed to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg on Thursday (local time) following reports of an active shooter in one of its classrooms.

"Upon arriving there they located the shooter in one of the buildings. Officers engaged that suspect.

"The shooter threat was neutralised," Hanlin said, later adding: "The shooter is deceased."

Up to 10 people were reportedly killed and 20 wounded in the shooting.

News reports said that the gunman was in his 20s and that police were examining social media postings thought to belong to him.

Several reports said he may have shared his intentions online before the shooting.

Police by early afternoon were still going building by building at the college to secure the facility, searching students and staff as they left and boarded buses that transported them to local fairgrounds.

Thursday's shooting is sure to reignite the debate in the United States on gun control, which is a charged topic in the campaign leading up to the presidential election.

AFP