Funds raised for shooting victim’s sister. The slain worker was hailed as a hero. shopper heard dozens of gunshots, thought ‘I’m going to die’ BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A shooting at a Safeway Sunday night on Bend’s Eastside resulted in the tragic deaths of a customer in the front of the store and a produce employee in the back, who was hailed as a hero for trying to wrestle the gun away. Hours after police provided new insight into what happened, a vigil was held Monday night in Drake Park, hosted by Central Oregon Moms Demand Action, to honor both Bend men and share hugs, tears and a whirlwind of emotions, from sadness and frustration to anger and commitment to seeking change and preventing future tragedies. More than 100 people were on hand. 84-year-old Bend resident Glenn Bennett was shopping at the store and was near the front entrance when he was fatally shot. A GoFundMe page says Glen lived with his sister and helped pay for their house. Moments later, a Safeway employee, 66-year-old Donald Surrett Jr., was also shot and killed in the back of the store in the produce section. Police say Surrett spoke with the gunman in an attempt to disarm him. His efforts may have helped prevent further deaths. “Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident,” Bend Police Communications Officer Sheila Miller said at Monday’s news conference. Surrett’s sister-in-law has also set up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses. Debora Jean Surrett, the ex-wife of the Safeway employee killed in the attack, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Surrett served in the Army for 20 years as a combat engineer. He wasn’t deployed to active combat zones, but during the 20 years they were married from 1975 to 1995, they were stationed in Germany three times and lived on military bases throughout the US. “They are trained to be the first to go to war and the last to come home,” he told the AP. People who were in the area when the shooting erupted returned Monday to retrieve any property they left behind, including cars and bicycles. Bend resident Laura Patterson said she was hiding inside a Safeway office when the shooting broke out and returned Monday to get her wallet today, which she left behind while she ran for safety. Here’s her account of what happened: “I was inside, cashing in a Scratch-It because I won $30 at Safeway. And I cashed it in, and there were no Scratch-Its available at the counter. So I moved over to where the machine is, on the left, which is towards 27th (Street) and put $20 in the machine. “One of the employees, a young gentleman with blond hair, ran in from the exit near 27th and said to Sophia, the manger, ‘Sophia, someone’s shooting in the parking lot!’ Of course I stopped, saw her go out, turn around and run back in. “I heard some (gunshots) out there — I could hear them, and then he was coming in. So I ran back into an office, right there. Somebody was closing the door and I ran over there and I went under an office and he was sitting there crying. “It was so loud — I heard 25 or more shots, and I thought it was at the office door because I had never heard shots before. When it was quiet, the gentleman with me went and knocked on the door Twice, and we waited. I heard someone yell, ” Get on the ground!” earlier, and I assumed it was the police, because I heard sirens.” I asked Patterson what thoughts were going through her head as she heard the shots. “I was going to die,” Patterson said. Patterson said her brother-in-law and sister were also at the scene and were not injured.
