The nine people killed after a
gunman opened fire on an Oregon community college campus Thursday took
different paths to the small rural college, ranging from teens starting
college for the first time to adults who were seeking a second career.
One was an assistant professor of English at the college.
The worst mass
shooting in Oregon history also injured several others at Umpqua
Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The gunman died following a
shootout with police. Some family members took to social media early
after news of the shooting broke, expressing concern that they hadn't
yet heard from relatives. Many used that same platform to express their
heartbreak once their worst fears were confirmed.
Authorities released the identities of the victims on Friday: According to the list released, the dead, whose age range from 18 to 67 include, Lucero Alcaraz, 19, Treven Taylor Anspach, 20,
Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18, Quinn Glen Cooper, 18, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, Lucas Eibel, 18, Jason Dale Johnson, 34, Lawrence Levine, 67 (teacher) and Sarena Dawn Moore, 44
Kim
Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, loved the outdoors, her 18-year-old daughter and
her two Great Pyrenees dogs, said Robert Stryk, the owner of Pyrenees
Vineyards in Myrtle Creek, where Dietz worked as a caretaker for many
years.
Dietz was taking classes at the same college as her daughter, who was unhurt in the shooting, Stryk said. "That's really the tragedy here, is that this is a woman who was just trying to better herself," he said.
Dietz's ex-husband, Eric, is the vineyard manager, and both were still close friends, Stryk said. Eric
Dietz, who had posted updates on his Facebook page while searching for
news of his daughter and ex-wife, on Friday posted a picture of Kim and
confirmation of her death "with deep grief in my heart."
Stryk said that the two had met in Southern California, but that Kim Dietz was originally from England. "She was a very energetic, very kind, kind soul," he said. "Kim was an exceptional woman. The father of 19-year-old Lucero Alcaraz fought back tears and anger outside of his Roseburg home Friday.
"There is no sense in talking about it. It's in vain," Ezequiel Alcaraz said in Spanish. "What's the point in showing our pain?"
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| Candle light for the victims |
Lucero's sister, Maria Leticia Alcaraz, posted to Facebook that her sister was missing, then broke the news that she was dead. "Never
in a million years would I have imagined going through something like
this. She was my best friend and my sister," she wrote. "I can't begin
to describe how I feel. I'm full of anger, pain, sadness, regret that I
didn't get the chance to see her or prevent this from happening."
Maria
Leticia Alcaraz wrote of being proud of her sister for getting
scholarships that would cover the entirety of her college costs, and for
the fact that she was in college honors and wrote that she "would have
been a great pediatric nurse." "You were going to do great things," she wrote.
Jason Johnson had just started his first week at the college, his mother told NBC News Friday.
Tonja
Johnson Engel said that her son had struggled with drug abuse, but
decided to continue his education after completing a six-month rehab
program with The Salvation Army in Portland.
"The other day, he looked at me and hugged me and said, 'Mom,
how long have you been waiting for one of your kids to go to college?'
And I said, 'Oh, about 20 years,'" Engel told NBC News. She said that her son kissed her before he left for class Thursday morning.
"Love ya," Engel told NBC her son told her (http://nbcnews.to/1VsXTDZ ). "I'll see you this afternoon." In
a family statement read by police Friday, Jason's mother said that
Jason was proud of himself for enrolling in school, and so was his mom.
They felt that Jason had finally found his path. His family says that he
will be loved and missed.
Quinn
Glen Cooper of Roseburg, age 18. In a statement issued Friday, his
family wrote that "Quinn was funny, sweet, compassionate and such a
wonderful loving person." "He always stood up for people," the
statement reads. He was going to take his brown belt test next week, and
loved dancing and voice acting and playing Ingress with his older
brother, Cody.
"Our lives are shattered beyond repair," his family
wrote. We send our condolences to all the families who have been so
tragically affected by this deranged gunman. No one should ever have to
feel the pain we are feeling. Please remember the victims and their
families. Please remember Quinn."
Lucas Eibel of
Roseburg, 18. A statement by his family says that Eibel, who was
studying chemistry, loved Future Farmers of America and volunteering at
Wildlife Safari and Saving Grace animal shelter.
"He was an amazing soccer
player," a family statement reads. His family also noted his academic
achievements, including graduating Roseburg High School with high
academic marks, receiving a Ford Family Foundation scholarship, and
receiving an Umpqua Community College scholars award.
___
Lawrence
Levine of Glide, 67, was an assistant professor of English at the
college. Levine was a member of Steamboaters, a fly fishing and
conservation group. Dale Greenley, a fellow member of the group said Levine was an avid fisherman who used to be a guide on the north Umpqua River. "He was kind of quiet and laid back, he didn't say much," Greenley said. "But he was a good writer."
Sarena
Dawn Moore of Myrtle Creek, age 44, was a member of Grants Pass
Seventh-day Adventist Church, which had a post on its Facebook page
mourning her death.
Treven Taylor Anspach of Sutherlin, age 20. In
a written statement read by officials, his family said that he was "one
of the most positive young men, always looking for the best in life." "Treven was larger than life and brought out the best in those around him," his family wrote.
Rebecka
Ann Carnes of Myrtle Creek, age 18. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon,
said that Carnes is the great-granddaughter of his first cousin. In a
written statement, Merkley wrote: "Rebecka's beautiful spirit will be
enormously missed."
A GoFundMe site has been set up for Carnes by
her cousin, Lisa Crawford at http://bit.ly/1ON5WHD. As of Friday
afternoon, the site had raised more than $1,200 to help Carnes' parents
"with Becka's final expenses."
"I
am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have watched Becka grow
up," Crawford wrote on the site. "She had just started a new job and
college classes. This isn't how life is supposed to work and I am
struggling to wrap my mind around the entire situation."
Crawford asked said that the people in Carnes' life "loved her fiercely and are devastated."
"Don't
let life ever become so busy that you don't have a moment to stop and
be kind to someone," Crawford wrote. "Let love and gentleness shine in
the wake of this violence."
Associated
Press writers Manuel Valdes and Gosia Wozniacka in Roseburg, Oregon,
and Jonathan J. Cooper, in Portland, Oregon, contributed.
Rachella L Corte writes for Associated Press
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