A Safeway employee who had previously served in the US Army for 20 years engaged a shooter in the produce area of the Bend, Oregon, supermarket, possibly saving additional lives after a shooting that left the employee and one other person dead.
Police lauded the worker, 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr. of Bend, as a hero and claimed that his actions may have rescued customers at the store in the high-desert city encircled by mountains in the state’s centre. Customer Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, of Bend, was also killed Sunday night, according to police spokesperson Sheila Miller.
“Mr. Surrett engaged with the shooter, attempted to disarm him and may very well have prevented further deaths. Mr. Surrett acted heroically turning this terrible event,” Miller said at a news conference as she struggled against tears.
Police discovered the shooter’s body close to an AR-15-style weapon and a shotgun on Monday, saying he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police identified the shooter as Bend resident Ethan Blair Miller, 20.
The apartment building where the shooter resided is located behind The Forum Shopping Center. According to witnesses, he started shooting as soon as he left the complex on Sunday evening and continued firing as he pulled into the parking lot of the shopping centre and then entered the Safeway.
According to authorities, the shooter first killed Bennett at the entrance to the store before “spraying rounds” from the assault weapon down the aisles until Surrett confronted him. The whole thing happened in four steps, starting with the initial 911 calls and ending with the police finding the suspect dead inside the business.
As the shooting continued, police entered the supermarket from the front and rear.
In a phone conversation with AP, Debora Jean Surrett, the ex-wife of the Safeway employee killed in the attack, revealed that Surrett had been a combat engineer in the Army for 20 years.
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While they were married for 20 years, from 1975 to 1995, they lived on military stations all throughout the country and were stationed in Germany three times. He was never sent to actual war zones.
One of the nation’s strongest gun restriction measures will be put to the vote by Oregonians in November. If Measure 114 were to pass, it would outlaw large capacity magazines with more over 10 rounds, barring only current owners, members of the armed forces, and law enforcement, and mandate that all gun purchases be made with a licence.
An applicant must successfully complete an approved firearm safety course, pay a fee, supply personal information, submit to fingerprinting and photography, and pass a criminal background check in order to be eligible for a permit. A database of weapons would be built by the state police.
(With inputs from agencies)
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