A gunman and two other people are dead after a shooting at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, police said at a press conference. Officers responded to the store in the area of The Forum Shopping Center on Sunday night, August 28, 2022, according to police.
Ethan Blair Miller was named as the 20-year-old shooter, who left behind voluminous social media accounts and a manifesto that revealed an obsession with Columbine and initial plans to become a school shooter. You can read more about Miller, of Bend, here.
Police identified the two victims as Glenn Edward Bennet, a shopper, and Donald Ray Surrett Jr., an employee who tried to disarm the gunman.
At a press conference late Sunday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said, “At approximately 7:04 p.m. we received a call for service at the Forum Shopping Center. Multiple 911 calls came in. As police responded we had reports of at least one possible or two active shooters in the area. The calls were shots being fired. We believe the shooter entered from a residential area behind the Forum Shopping Center. The shooter moved through the parking lot from the Costco on the west end shooting rounds an AR-15-style rifle.”
Krantz said the shooter then went into the west entrance of Safeway. The chief said, “They engaged one person there and shot that person. That person was transported to the hospital and was later pronounced deceased. The shooter continued through the Safeway firing rounds. The shooter killed a second person inside the Safeway. Officers responded and when they arrived they entered the Safeway immediately, still hearing shots. They found the apparent shooter dead inside Safeway.”
Krantz said the rifle and a shotgun were found near the shooter. He said officers didn’t fire any shots. The chief added the suspect is a male but did not identify him or the victims.
The Police Chief Said There Is No Indication There Was a 2nd Gunman
Krantz said a witness reported a possible second shooter in the area but no evidence has been found of a second gunman or any additional gunshots in the city. He said the investigation is ongoing and is active. Officers from several central Oregon police agencies and the FBI are at the scene.
“This will take a long time to collect evidence, process the scene and complete the investigation,” Krantz said. He said the crime scene includes the entire parking lot and shopping center and investigators are also obtaining search warrants for the suspect’s residences
Central Oregon Peacekeepers attended a police briefing and reported the following:
Shooter started outside and walked along sidewalk. Fired in to Big Lots. Went to safe way and shot someone who died at hospital. Shooter was killed. No news on potential injuries. Multiple agencies responding. Bend PD did not fire a weapon
KTVZ quoted a hospital spokeswoman as saying they received two people, one deceased and one in good condition. The Bend Bulletin reported that a Safeway employee told the newspaper that “a person walked into the grocery store and opened fire with a gun, firing multiple shots.”
🚨#UPDATE: KTVZ is reporting that multiple Police and medics have rushed to the Safeway at the Forum Shopping Center in northeast Bend this evening on reports of an active-shooter situation with one or two gunmen and possibly multiple victims
The television station reported that “multiple gunshots heard in the area of the shopping center, at Highway 20 and Northeast 27th Street.”
There Were Reports of an Active Shooter Dressed in Black
Breaking: Initial reports of a shooting at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon.
According to KTVS, callers said “they saw someone dressed all black, while others said a male subject holding two duffel bags who may have entered the grocery store.”
Viewer submitted video. Bend Oregon East Side Safeway. 8/28/2022. Shooter reported. No confirmation on people injured or dead. We do not know if the suspect is still at large at this time.
A person wrote on Reddit that they work at the store as a courtesy clerk:
Really happy to be alive and safe rn,” the post said. “I was outside pulling cars in when I heard gunshots from what sounded like near Costco, by the Fox Hollow apartments. I wasn’t sure if they were gunshots until I saw a guy running as fast as he could. Not long after, I heard more gunshots. I saw a black sudan and I think maybe that was the car??
The post continued, “I ran inside, people started to come in. I told people to stay in. I told the manager s*** was happening and saw my friend. I ran to him and told him about it. That’s when I heard gunshots in the store. Me and him and so many people ran out as fast as we could. I heard more shots near me. My co workers saw the shooter. He made it out ok. I’ve never seen people run like that. I’ve never been in a panic like that.”
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