“This is the Safeway employee who interacted with the shooter, meaning he tried to disarm the shooter and attacked that person, and we believe that prevented other deaths other than the rapid response of the police,” Miller said. “Mr Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident.” “While we are still piecing together the facts of last night’s shooting, it is clear that many more people could have been killed if not for the heroism of Donald Ray Surrett, Jr., who intervened to stop the shooting, and the police officers who they entered while shots were still being fired,” Brown’s statement said. “In the face of senseless violence, they acted with selfless bravery. Their courage saved lives.” The gunman — identified by police as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller — was found dead at the scene and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a police spokeswoman said. Police found an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun near Miller’s body, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Kranz. The shooting unfolded shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday at a shopping center, Kranz said. Police initially received reports that there may have been more than one shooter, Sheila Miller said, but there is no evidence of a second shooter. There were reports of at least two other people with non-life-threatening injuries, he said. A motive remains unclear, but police are aware of online posts that may be relevant, Sheila Miller said. “We are aware that the shooter may have posted information online about his plan. We are investigating. We have no evidence of prior threats or prior knowledge of the shooter. We received information about the shooter’s writings after the incident and The shooter has no criminal history in the area,” Miller said. Safeway said in a statement that the company was sorry for the “brutal violence.” “Our thoughts and actions now turn to supporting our partners, our customers and the community affected by this tragedy. We thank the officers of the Bend Police Department for their response and will continue to support the department’s investigation in the coming days.” days”, the company’s announcement said. Sunday’s shooting follows a string of other shootings at grocery stores across the country over the past year and amid an overall increase in “active shooter” incidents, according to an FBI report. In May, 10 people were killed in what authorities say was racist attack in Buffalo, New York. A “hero” security guard and a beloved teacher were among those shot. In March, another 10 people were murdered at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. A veteran police officer with seven children was among the dead. Last September, a gunman shot 15 people — including one fatally — at a Kroger in Collierville, Tennessee. Some people hid in freezers to survive.

How the shooting unfolded

Miller said police received multiple calls about shots fired around 7 p.m. at the Forum Mall in northeast Bend. The gunman entered from an apartment complex behind the mall, Miller said. He moved through the parking lot while firing an AR-15-style rifle before entering the Safeway. Once inside, he shot a customer — Glenn Edward Bennett — who died on the way to the hospital, Miller said. The gunman continued to walk through the store before fighting and fatally shooting Donald Ray Sarrett Jr., Miller said. “As our officers responded, they entered the Safeway while shots were still being fired. They found the apparent assailant deceased inside the Safeway,” Miller said. An AR-15 and shotgun were found near the gunman’s body, Miller said. Bend police did not fire, he said. How the gunman obtained firearms is under investigation. Because of the online posts, Bend police also contacted the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad, which cleared the grocery store and apartment complex, Miller said. Police said it was unclear how many people were in the store at the time of the shooting.
Officers were on the scene within three minutes of the first 911 call, Miller said. It took four minutes from the time officers were dispatched to when the assailant’s body was found, police said.

The plans appeared to be posted online

A search warrant was issued for the gunman’s vehicle and home, Miller said. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails in his car along with a sawed-off shotgun. Police are working with the ATF to find out if the firearms were legal. In his apartment, authorities found additional ammunition and digital devices that are currently being examined. CNN has located several blog entries that appear to belong to Ethan Miller, which were posted on the blogging site “Wattpad” and detail a plan and reasons for the shootings. The posts were made public on the afternoon of August 28 by an anonymous account and were visible for 12 hours, according to Wattpad. The posts have since been removed. The first blog entry was titled June 29th and signed with the name Ethan. The author of the post blamed Covid-19 and the quarantine for the deterioration of their mental health. This person was originally planning a shooting inside a high school on September 8, according to reports. More than 35 posts were made by the same account on the blogging site. Most of the posts indicated a desire to commit violence. One post said it was “partly inspired” by the Columbine High School shooting. In other posts signed under the name Ethan, several reasons why the author turned into a “ticking time bomb” were mentioned, including their family and love life, which was detailed in a post titled on July 8. The author mentioned buying a shotgun and an AR-15 for the shooting and said they hoped to kill more than 40 people. All of the posts mentioned other mass shootings.

“I immediately turned to my children and said, ‘Run!’”

Customers and employees described a chaotic scene at Safeway, saying they scrambled for safety as bullets flew. Josh Campa told CNN’s KTVZ that all four of his children were shopping at the store when the shooting broke out. “We started heading toward the front. Then we heard, I don’t know how many shots ahead — six or seven. I immediately turned to my kids and said, ‘Run!’ People were screaming … it was a horrible experience,” Caba told KTVZ. Kaba said he was worried about his wife, who stayed in the car because she wasn’t feeling well. But as he and three of his children escaped through the produce department exit doors, he found that his wife had driven to the back of the store and was “sitting in the car, saying ‘Get in the car! Get in the car!’” KTVZ reported. The father was able to rush back to the store and find their fourth child, he told KTVZ. An employee who identified himself only as Robert told the Central Oregon Daily News that he and other employees were working a closing shift at the deli when they heard loud gunfire. “Me and three other employees fell into a walk-in cooler and I closed the door and we stayed there and hid until the authorities arrived,” he said. A third person was hit and was in good condition at St. Charles Medical Center, spokeswoman Lisa Goodman said. Residents in the central Oregon city were stunned by the shooting. “I heard five to eight gunshots. I thought it sounded like a boomerang,” Heather Thompson, who lives across the street, told the Central Oregon Daily News. “Less than a minute later, there were 10 to 20 shots and then another 10 to 20 shots,” he said. “And at that moment, I went in and told my dad to get out the window. And people were running out of Safeway.” Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify when the Wattpad posts were made public. CNN’s Holly Yan and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.