2022 Bend, Oregon shooting
44°03′28″N 121°15′54″W / 44.05778°N 121.26500°W / 44.05778; -121.26500
c. 7:00 – 7:08 p.m. (PDT)
- 5.56 NATO Radical Firearms RF-15 semi-automatic rifle
- 12-Gauge Stevens Model 320 pump-action shotgun
- Misanthropy
- Thrill
- Suicidal and homicidal ideation
On August 28, 2022, a gunman opened fire at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, killing two men, one of whom was an employee, and wounding two other people before committing suicide.[1]
Shooting
After leaving the Fox Hollow apartment building at about 7:00 pm, the gunman, 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, fired into his own vehicle, a 1997 Ford F-250, in the parking lot of the apartment building.[2] The gunman, armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun, then fired into the parking lot of a Costco as he walked to the Forum shopping center.[3]
![Refer to caption](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Donald_Ray_Surrett_Jr.png/147px-Donald_Ray_Surrett_Jr.png)
At about 7:04 pm,[4] Miller reached the parking lot of the Forum shopping center, where he fired into a Big Lots store adjacent to Safeway.[5] Upon reaching the west entrance of the Safeway, he shot Glenn Edward Bennett, an 84-year-old customer.[2] Two other shoppers of the grocery store fled when the shooting started, but later returned to help Bennett, who had been lying on the ground.[6] Bennett later died from his injuries in the hospital.[7]
The gunman then moved farther into the store, firing into aisles as he progressed.[8] He eventually reached the store's produce section, where he was stabbed by Donald Ray Surrett Jr., a 66-year-old employee[9] who had hidden behind a produce cart in the store after he heard gunshots. When the gunman looked in the opposite direction, Surrett stabbed him with a produce knife and attempted to disarm him. However, the shooter eventually overpowered Surrett and shot him to death.[6][10] Two other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the shooting.
After receiving an emergency 911 call, officers entered the grocery store from the front and back. At 7:08 pm, Miller was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two firearms he used were found near his body.[3]
In total, the gunman fired more than 100 shots. While law enforcement has not completed its search of shell casings, they have recovered more than 100 shell casings from the gunman's apartment complex, The Forum shopping center, and the interior of the Safeway.[6] Three molotov cocktails and a sawed-off shotgun were also found in the shooter's truck.[5]
Perpetrator
Ethan Blair Miller (October 31, 2001 – August 28, 2022), a 20-year-old Bend resident, was identified as the gunman. Prior to the shooting, he lived at the nearby Fox Hollow apartment building with his mother and his younger brother. [11] Miller was also a former employee of Safeway.[6] The weapons Miller used in the attack were purchased legally.[12]
Miller wrote a private digital journal starting on June 29 on Wattpad titled "The Downward Spiral of Ethan Miller", which was named after a Nine Inch Nails album dubbed "The Downward Spiral".[13] In this journal, he detailed his plan and motivations for committing a mass shooting. In his journal, Miller wrote that he wanted to murder people due to isolation, loneliness, feuds with his family, frustrations at being unable to find a girlfriend, and also wrote lyrics from The Downward Spiral album, and other artists such as Disturbed, and KMFDM.[13] He also stated that he wanted to commit a school shooting at his former high school on September 8 and was influenced by the Columbine High School massacre. However, Miller instead chose to open fire on the Safeway because he couldn't wait long enough for the high school to reopen. Miller also posted photos and videos of himself with guns on Instagram and YouTube.[11][14]
Reactions
Kate Brown, the governor of Oregon, thanked first responders for their quick response to the shooting. She further stated that her heart went out to the victims' families, and that everyone has the right to safety from gun violence.[15][16] On September 2, Brown, along with police chief Mike Krantz, fire chief Todd Riley, city manager Eric King, and Bend City Council members met privately with officers and other first responders at the Bend Fire Station. Additionally, Brown encouraged Oregonians to vote for Measure 114, a gun control bill, on Oregon's fall ballot.[17]
Senator Ron Wyden said that the Oregonians who were present at the shooting needed our thoughts and prayers, and that the United States can't ignore another mass shooting when there are people grieving over the loss of their friends and family.[18]
The Associated Press noted that the shooting occurred on the same day as unrelated shootings in Phoenix, Detroit, and Houston.[19]
See also
- List of homicides in Oregon
- Mass shootings in the United States
- Gun violence in the United States
- Workplace violence
- Columbine effect
References
- ^ "Bend PD release new info on Safeway shooting: Over 100 shots fired; hero went after gunman with produce knife". KTVZ. August 30, 2022.
- ^ a b O'Brien, Brendan; Whitcomb, Dan (August 30, 2022). "Oregon gunman was confronted by employee who may have saved lives, police say". Reuters. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ a b Edwards, Jonathan (August 30, 2022). "Safeway employee saved lives by confronting Oregon gunman, police say". Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ Siess, Joe; Kaminski, Anna; Demars, Zack (September 3, 2022). "Gunman sprays aisles of Bend Safeway; 3 dead". The Bulletin. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ a b Flaccus, Gillian (August 29, 2022). "Police: Heroic Safeway employee confronted gunman in store". Associated Press. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Land, Joni Auden; VanderHart, Dirk (August 30, 2022). "Bend Safeway employee attempted to stab gunman during mass shooting, police say". OPB. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
- ^ Romero, Dennis; Li, David K (August 28, 2022). "3 dead, including suspected shooter, in Oregon grocery store attack". NBC News. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Siess, Joe; Kaminski, Anna; Demars, Zack (August 29, 2022). "Gunman sprays aisles of Bend Safeway; 3 dead". Blue Mountain Eagle. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Land, Joni Auden; VanderHart, Dirk (September 2, 2022). "Amid memorial talks, Bend learns of Safeway shooting victim's criminal past". OPB. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Flaccus, Gillian (August 29, 2022). "Police: 2 Killed in Oregon Grocery Store, Suspect Found Dead". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ a b McBride, Jessica (August 29, 2022). "Ethan Miller, Bend Safeway Shooter: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "Police: Safeway worker who fought Bend gunman with produce knife likely saved lives". Statesman Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ a b Miller, Ethan. The Downward Spiral of "Ethan Miller".
- ^ Lamoureux, Mack (August 30, 2022). "'I Can't Wait to Die': Oregon Mass Shooter Shared Detailed 'Doomsday' Plans Online". Vice News. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "Oregon Gov. Brown thanks first responders, Bend Police for quick response to shooting". KATU. September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ LeCompte, Michael (September 2, 2022). "OR governor thanks police for rapid response to Bend shooting". NBC Right Now. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Keenan, Carly (September 2, 2022). "Governor Brown visits Bend, meets with Safeway shooting first responders, praises community's response". KTVZ. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ LeCompte, Michael (September 2, 2022). "Oregon leaders respond to Sunday's Bend shooting". NBC Right Now. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Flaccus, Gillian (September 2, 2022). "'Devastating': Mass shootings obscure daily U.S. gun toll". Associated Press. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
Taylor, 20, died Sunday the same day that four high-profile, public shooting rampages in Bend, Oregon, Phoenix, Detroit and Houston drew national headlines.
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