At least 10 people were killed and seven others were injured when a gunman who demanded to know his victims' religions opened fire Thursday morning on the campus of Umpqua Community College in southwest Oregon, witnesses and authorities said.
The gunman — whom law enforcement sources identified to NBC News as Chris Harper Mercer, 26 — was killed in a firefight with Douglas County sheriff's deputies, Sheriff John Hanlin said.
State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and other officials earlier had said 13 people were dead after the events near Roseburg, where the shootings were called in at 10:38 a.m. (1:38 p.m. ET). But investigators in Roseburg said they couldn't confirm that number, and law enforcement officials told NBC News it was likely that some victims were counted multiple times amid the confusion of the scene.
Investigators wouldn't say whether Mercer was included in the 10, and they said none of the victims would be identified for at least 24 hours. Law enforcement sources said that Mercer's connection to the college, where he wasn't a student, remained unclear.
Multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News that four weapons were recovered from the scene in Roseburg, in the southwest corner of the state about 60 miles south of Eugene — three handguns and a long gun similar to an AR-style rifle.
A visibly frustrated President Barack Obama — who has denounced the proliferation of guns in society after more than a half-dozen previous mass shootings — said "thoughts and prayers are not enough.
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