Chris Harper Mercer, the man authorities say was responsible for the Oregon community college rampage, was a young man who appeared isolated and may have had strong hostilities toward religion, according to law enforcement officials and people who came in contact with him.
Authorities have recovered a document they believe may have been written by Mercer, 26, that bitterly refers to a lonely existence with few actual human connections beyond the author's online communications, a law enforcement official told USA TODAY.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, described the writings as "rambling." Investigators say the gunman appeared to be involved in a loosely-affiliated online community known as the "beta boys" that glorifies mass shootings, similar to the Oregon attack, the official said. The document laments an isolated life with little promise, the official said.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said the gunman was a student in the class at Umpqua Community College in southern Oregon where he opened fire on Thursday, killing nine people and wounding nine others before he was fatally shot by law enforcement officials who rushed to the scene.
Celinez Nunez, the ATF’s assistant special agent in charge in Seattle, said six weapons were recovered at the school and were linked to the shooter. Seven more weapons were recovered at the shooter's home. All were legally purchased by the shooter or other members of his family. She added that a jacket reinforced with steel plates and five magazines was also recovered at the scene.
The suspect's online activity and statements from family and neighbors offer a muddled portrait of a young man who, at least at times, showed signs of feeling profoundly alone and hostile to organized religion.
According to multiple accounts from witnesses and family members of those wounded, the gunman asked victims to state their religion before he opened fire.
Stacy Boylan, who is the parent of a wounded student, told CNN that the killer asked the students "Are you a Christian?" Boylan said that shooter then asked the ones who identified themselves to stand and said, "Good, because you're a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second."
On an online dating site, Mercer posted a profile in which he identifies himself as "Not Religious, Not Religious, but Spiritual." His profile also said that he belonged to group called "Doesn't Like Organized Religion."
Carmen Nesnick, the stepsister of the suspect, told CBS Los Angeles that Mercer was born in Britain and moved to the U.S. as a boy. Mercer had lived in Torrance, Calif., before recently moving to Oregon with his mother.
But Nesnick, who said she hadn't seen Mercer in more than a year, told the television station her stepbrother was not a religious nor anti-religious person and that her family is Christian.
He joined the U.S. Army, but did not complete basic training and left after a month in late 2008. He was discharged for medical reasons, according to a Pentagon official who was not authorized to publicly comment on the matter.
Mercer also attended El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., from 2010 to 2012, college spokeswoman Ann Garten said.
His father, Ian Mercer, declined on Thursday to comment about his son, but told reporters that he was "shocked as anybody at what happened."
Investigators visited the suspect's apartment, which he shared with his mother, again on Friday. The officers left the suspect's home, carrying out several evidence bags.
Neighbor Steven Fisher said he'd often seen the suspect around the complex of two-story, six-unit buildings, which backs onto a small playground. Fisher said the suspect seemed wary of others, often looking over his shoulder, and didn't mingle with anyone besides the two children he often took out to the playground in the evenings to push on the swings. Fisher did not know Mercer's relationship with the children.
Another neighbor, Bronte Hart, told the Associated Press that the suspected killer would "sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light."
In his online dating profile, Mercer described himself as being "shy at first" but that he warms up "quickly" and is "better in small groups."
In a MySpace page that appeared to belong to him, Mercer's profile photo shows him holding a gun and includes pro-Irish Republican Army propaganda photos and video.
Mercer also appeared to refer to mass casualty shootings, including one in Roanoke, Va., in August that left a television news reporter and cameraman dead, in an online file-sharing forum blog. It was one of several messages on the blog linked to an e-mail address he used.
"I have noticed that so many people like (the Virginia shooter) are alone and unknown yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows (who) they are," the user wrote. "Seems like the more people you kill, the more you're in the spotlight."
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook and Jim Michaels, of USA TODAY in Washington; Saerom Yoo, of the Salem Statesman Journal, in Roseburg, Ore.
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