Chris Harper-Mercer has been identified as the Umpqua shooter, the 26-year-old man responsible for the Umpqua Community College shooting. Earlier reports indicated he was a 20-year-old. Authorities have yet to confirm he was a student at UCC, although there are differing accounts.
Reports from a witness Kortney Moore also indicate that Mercer first fired a shot through the window in Snyder Hall, killing their teacher. According to her story, Harper-Mercer ordered everyone onto the ground and then yelled people to stand up and state their religion. Moore survived by lying on the ground with the people who were shot.
Here is a link to a Chris Harper-Mercer’s Myspace page that was first updated in 2014. The link (which hasn’t been verified) states Chris’ location is Torrance, CA and shows numerous images of the Irish Republican Army, which may explain his “religious” affiliation.
Another profile on Mashable’s comment section links to a now removed Facebook page.
While this hasn’t been proven as fact yet, someone uncovered a 4chan thread posted early Thursday morning announcing “Don’t go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest.” People suspect that Chris Harper-Mercer was the one who posted this. You can read the full thing below.
At this point, 4chan is guilty of so much false information, no one would be surprised if that turned out to be a fake. Earlier suspicions from the site blamed a completely unrelated person. What we do know is that this story is very sad, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those at UCC.
