A shooting at a Safeway grocery store on Sunday night in Bend, Oregon, left three people dead, including the suspected attacker, reigniting pleas from the public for government leaders to take more action against gun violence.
Police in Bend said the shooter – whose name hasn’t been released – came from a nearby residential area and began firing as he crossed through the Safeway parking lot. One person was shot near the entrance and died at the scene, police said.
Another was shot and killed inside the store, and police arrived to find the gunman dead in the store as well.
Bend police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said one victim, a Safeway employee who was identified as Donald Ray Surrett Jr, 66, fought off the shooter in the produce aisle, possibly preventing more deaths.
Miller said: “This is the Safeway employee who engaged with the shooter, which is to say he attempted to disarm the shooter and attacked this person. We believe he prevented further deaths in addition to the quick police response.”
The other victim was Glenn Edward Bennett, 84.
Police said they didn’t fire any shots at the scene, including at the gunman, but they stopped short of immediately saying whether the gunman had died by suicide. They noted that he was near an assault-style rifle and a shotgun.
Details of the gunman were not released, other than the fact that he is male.
Residents in houses and apartments nearby described a horrifying scene to media outlets. They recounted hearing multiple gunshots, and one grocery store employee told reporters he hid in a walk-in refrigerator during the shooting.
A team of St. Charles caregivers and physicians arrived at the hospital within minutes of the event to provide care for those injured. Ultimately, St. Charles Bend received two victims from the shooting. One was dead on arrival and the other was reported in good condition.
— St. Charles (@STCHealth) August 29, 2022
Authorities said they had not immediately determined a motive for the attack, which prompted local officials to call for making it more difficult to access high-powered weapons.
In a press conference, Bend police chief Mike Krantz said: “We know that this is a frightening thing for our community and something that we would never want to happen in our city.”
The Bend shooting comes a few months after another grocery store shooting in Buffalo in May left 10 Black people dead. Racism motivated the white teen gunman in that attack, police have said.
The summer saw more mass shootings, including in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in May that left 21 dead and a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, that killed seven.
All of those shootings involved shooters who had legally obtained assault-style rifles, further dividing America’s political left and right on whether to limit the right to bear arms mentioned by the US constitution’s second amendment.
Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said: “Last night there was a horrific shooting in Bend. People were just going about their lives before they were killed. My heart breaks for their loved ones. This is not normal. Assault weapons and high capacity magazines should never be on the street in the first place.
“We need Democrats, Republicans, rural folks to urban folks and responsible gun owners to all come together and put an end to gun violence in our communities. Enough with this madness.”
Oregon senator Ron Wyden, also a Democrat, echoed Merkley’s response: “The Oregonians who went to shop or to work at the Bend shopping center where last night’s mass shooting happened need our thoughts and actions. America cannot just shrug its shoulders.”
Wyden acknowledged that Congress this summer passed legislation which would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states implemented red flag laws that are supposed to make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.
But he said it was only “a small step”.
“There are many more steps ahead before our country actually addresses the gun violence epidemic devastating communities like Bend today and far too many communities before this,” Wyden added. “I’m willing to work with anybody who’s sick and tired of mass shootings to find solutions that put an end to this gun violence madness once and for all.”
