ROSEBURG, Ore. (KOIN) — At least 10 people were killed and 9 others injured in a shooting at Umpqua Community College, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Thursday evening. 
 
 Around 10:40 a.m., local authorities responded to reports of an active shooter on the campus at 1140 Umpqua College Road. 
 
 Read: Eyewitness accounts of deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College 
 
 Kortney Moore, a student at Umpqua Community College, said the gunman shot her teacher and asked others in her classroom about their religion before spraying more bullets. 
 
 Officers on the scene quickly located the shooter in a classroom and an exchange of gunfire ensued, Sheriff Hanlin said in a press conference. 
 
 The shooter was one of 10 people killed in the shooting, the FBI said. 
 
 A government official later revealed the suspect had been identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. 
 
 Once the shooter was pronounced dead, law enforcement officials from multiple agencies swept the campus, looking for indications of other possible threats. 
 
 School officials say nearly 3,000 students were on campus during the shooting. 
 
 Nearly 2 hours after the initial 911 calls came in, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said there was no longer an active threat on campus. 
 
 PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend in Springfield confirmed they received 3 patients suffering from gunshot wounds via Life Flight medical helicopter. Two of the patients are currently listed in critical condition, one is serious. 
 
 Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg said they are treating 4 patients from the shooting. 
 
 Photos: Gunman opens fire on Umpqua Community College campus 
 
 At a press conference in downtown Portland, Oregon Governor Kate Brown gave her condolences to those involved in the shooting and thanked first responders. 
 
 “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Gov. Brown said. “Our top priority now is the medical treatment for victims and the security of the campus.” 
 
 I order all flags at OR public institutions immediately lowered to half-staff in honor of the victims at Umpqua CC http://t.co/AYqvu4p4C6 — Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) October 1, 2015 
 
 Senator Jeff Kruse told KOIN 6 News many facts are still unclear. He said large distances between buildings on the rural community college’s campus made it difficult for first responders. 
 
 Listen: Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks about shooting at Umpqua Community College 
 
 Former Umpqua Community College President Joe Olson said the school has only one security officer on duty at a time, and that person isn’t armed. 
 
 Last year, Olson said one of the biggest debates on campus was whether the school should have armed security officers. He said the college had 3 training exercises with local law agencies in the past 2 years, “but you can never be prepared for something like this.” 
 
 In a press briefing at the White House on Thursday evening, President Barack Obama said the U.S. is becoming numb to mass shootings and that perpetrators have “sickness” in their minds. 
 
 “Somehow this has become routine,” Obama said. “The United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have common sense on gun safety laws.” 
 
 "It cannot be this easy for someone who wants to inflict harm to get his or her hands on a gun." —@POTUS #UCCShooting — The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 1, 2015 
 
 Several discussions on an anonymous online message board note the shooter may have revealed plans to attack the Oregon school just a day prior. 
 
 “Some of you guys are alright,” one post read. “Don’t go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest,” the person wrote on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 Some users seemed to egg the person on by wishing them luck and offering advice. 
 
 “Do it,” one person wrote. “I suggest you enter a classroom and tell people you will take them as hostages. Make everyone get in one corner and then open fire.” 
 
 Law enforcement officials have not confirmed whether these online conversations are attributed to the suspect. 
 
 Roseburg resident Alek Skarlatos who made international headlines for stopping a terrorist attack on a Paris train told KOIN 6 News he is flying home because of the shooting. 
 
 Skarlatos said he previously had plans to take classes at the college this fall. 
 
 Umpqua Community College will be closed throughout the week of October 5. 
 
 Counselors are available at Douglas County Fairgrounds, where students were taken by bus in the direct aftermath of the shooting. 
 
 A blood drive has been planned for 12 p.m. Friday at Mercy Medical Center where 10 patients from Umpqua Community College are currently being treated. 
 
 This slideshow requires JavaScript. ||||| ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Ten people are dead after a gunman opened fire at an Oregon community college Thursday, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said. 
 
 Hanlin said the gunman is also dead. Federal authorities say the gunman is among the 10 people who died. 
 
 The sheriff said 7 additional people were wounded, three critically. 
 
 The shooting happened at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland, in Douglas County. 
 
 Shooting highlights inaction by Congress on gun violence 
 
 Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said earlier Thursday that at least 13 people had died in the shooting and another 20 were wounded, but in a news conference Thursday night Hanlin said the number of fatalities stood at 10. The sheriff acknowledged that there had been conflicting reports but that is the most accurate number they have at this time. 
 
 Two law enforcement sources told CBS News the shooter has been identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. 
 
 An undated photo posted to a dating website shows Chris Harper Mercer, believed to be the shooter who killed 10 people on the campus of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on October 1, 2015 SpiritualPassions.com 
 
 Law enforcement sources also tell CBS News four guns -- a combination of pistols and a rifle -- were found at the scene of the shooting. 
 
 Posts on an online blog that appears to belong to Mercer reference multiple shootings, including one in Virginia in August that left a television news reporter and cameraman dead. The last upload on the blog was Wednesday. when a documentary about the Newtown shooting was posted. 
 
 In one post on the blog about Vester Flanagan, the man who killed the reporter and cameraman in Virginia, Mercer apparently wrote, "I have noticed that so many people like [Flanagan] are alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems like the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight." 
 
 Witness describes deadly barrage 
 
 An online dating profile that appears to belong to Mercer lists his hobbies and interests as "Internet, killing zombies, movies, music, reading." Under ethnicity, it says "mixed race" and his relationship status says "single -- never married." 
 
 The profile also says he is currently in college and lives with his parents, is a Republican and not religious. It also says he doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs. 
 
 One of the groups on the site that he belongs to is called "Doesn't Like Organized Religion." 
 
 Hanlin said at least two officers acted heroically in the shootout, but it was not clear if the gunman was killed by authorities or whether he took his own life. 
 
 At a news conference late Thursday night, a visibly angry Hanlin said he would not name the shooter. 
 
 "I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act," he said. 
 
 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer identified as college shooting suspect 
 
 Mercer had been living at an apartment complex in nearby Winchester. Yellow police tape surrounded the building Thursday night. 
 
 A neighbor, Bronte Hart, said Mercer would "sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light." 
 
 Hart said a woman she believed to be Mercer's mother also lived upstairs and was "crying her eyes out" Thursday. 
 
 Eighteen-year-old Kortney Moore of Rogue River tells the Roseburg News-Review newspaper that she was in a writing class when a shot came through a window. 
 
 She says the gunman entered her classroom, told people to get on the ground and then asked people to stand up and state their religion before opening fire. 
 
 In a brief statement to reporters, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said, "We are holding the community of Douglas County in our hearts today." Brown ordered flags at public institutions throughout the state lowered to half-staff. 
 
 Krys Denino, a mother of two and first-year nursing student at the college, was on campus when the shooting started. 
 
 She told CBSN by phone that she initially thought what she heard was from a construction project and didn't realize the sounds were gunshots until she saw a young woman running toward her. She heard another gunshot and then started running to her car. 
 
 A photographer for the Roseburg News-Review newspaper said he saw people being loaded into multiple ambulances and taken to the hospital. 
 
 The sheriff's office reported on Twitter that it received a call about the shooting at 10:38 a.m. 
 
 Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said at a news conference Thursday afternoon that officers from around the county immediately responded to the college and upon arriving there, located the shooter in one of the buildings on campus. 
 
 Sandy Hook families react to Oregon shooting 
 
 Hanlin said officers engaged the suspect and there was an exchange of gunfire and the shooter was "neutralized." Officers then searched student's backpacks for weapons and used dogs to check in the parking lot. 
 
 Lacey Gregory was just 100 yards away when the gunfire started. She told the "CBS Evening News" she saw people running. 
 
 "It was crazy," she said. 
 
 CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports authorities believe shots were fired both inside Snyder Hall and the nearby science building on the campus of more than 100 acres. 
 
 Students, staff and faculty are evacuated from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon after a deadly shooting Thursday, October 1, 2015. Michael Sullivan /The News-Review via AP 
 
 Students in the school tweeted as the shooting unfolded, one saying, "Students are running everywhere. Holy God." 
 
 And then, "Scariest thing I've ever experienced." 
 
 Sheriff Hanlin would not comment on the number of fatalities and said the investigation was "very active." 
 
 According to Hanlin, the Oregon State Police, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and multiple local law enforcement agencies are assisting in the investigation. 
 
 Students and faculty members were being bused to the Douglas County Fairgrounds, the sheriff's office said. 
 
 A spokeswoman for the Oregon department that oversees community colleges in the state said she had not received any detailed information about the shooting. 
 
 "It's extremely concerning and sad," said Endi Hartigan, spokeswoman for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. 
 
 The school has about 3,000 students. Its website was down Thursday. The university posted on Twitter that it would be closed until Monday. 
 
 Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg said Thursday night that four people remained hospitalized there but are expected to survive. 
 
 Dr. Jones Gray, chief medical officer, said one of the four people are in critical condition and the others are stable. 
 
 PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield said it received three female patients between the ages of 18 and 34 via helicopter. Dr. Hans Notenboom of the emergency department said two of the patients went directly into the operating room. 
 
 The hospital later tweeted that two of the victims were in serious condition and one in critical. 
 
 Former Umpqua Community College (UCC) President Joe Olson, who retired in June after four years, said the school had no formal security staff, just one officer on a shift. 
 
 One of the biggest debates on campus last year was whether to post armed security officers on campus to respond to a shooting. 
 
 "I suspect this is going to start a discussion across the country about how community colleges prepare themselves for events like this," he said. 
 
 Interim UCC President Rita Cavin said at a news conference that the school has a no guns on campus policy. CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports, however, that in Oregon, students with proper permits are allowed to carry guns on campus. 
 
 Authorities respond to a report of a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, Thursday, October 1, 2015. Michael Sullivan /The News-Review via AP 
 
 Hours after the attack, a visibly angry President Barack Obama spoke to reporters, saing the U.S. is becoming numb to mass shootings and that their perpetrators have "sickness" in their minds. 
 
 "It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun," Mr. Obama said. "We collectively are answerable to these families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction." 
 
 Vice President Joe Biden echoed the president's statements, saying the government needs to take action. 
 
 "My wife teaches at a community college," Biden said. "It brings it home, every time something happens at a school. The safest place on Earth should be our schools and our colleges." 
 
 Gun violence also a public health issue 
 
 The rural town of Roseburg lies west of the Cascade Mountains in an area where the timber industry has struggled. In recent years, officials have tried to promote the region as a tourist destination for vineyards and outdoor activities. 
 
 According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 88 people are killed by gun violence in America each day. Since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been at least 142 school shootings in America -- an average of nearly one a week, the organization says. 
 
 Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday called on the nation to implement gun safety measures. 
 
 John Hanlin, the sheriff overseeing the investigation into the shooting in Oregon, has been vocal in opposing state and federal gun-control legislation. He registered his opposition this year as state lawmakers considered requiring background checks on private, person-to-person gun sales. 
 
 Hanlin told a legislative committee in March that a background-check mandate wouldn't prevent criminals from getting firearms. 
 
 He said the state should combat gun violence by cracking down on convicted criminals found with guns, and by addressing people with unmanaged mental health issues. 
 
 Hanlin also sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden in 2013, after the shooting in Newtown. Hanlin said he and his deputies would refuse to enforce new gun-control restrictions "offending the constitutional rights of my citizens." 
 
 Now Oregon. We weep again as a nation. Is the answer to our gun violence epidemic to do nothing? Again? Come on America! We solve problems — Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 1, 2015 
 
 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Thursday that it's beyond her comprehension that "we are seeing these mass murders happen again and again and again." 
 
 Clinton said that the nation needs to "get the political will to do everything we can to keep people safe." She says there's a way to have sensible gun control measures that keep firearms out of the wrong hands and save lives. The former secretary of state says she's committed to doing everything she can to achieve that. ||||| The gunman who opened fire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College targeted Christians specifically, according to the father of a wounded student. 
 
 Before going into spinal surgery, Anastasia Boylan told her father and brother the gunman entered her classroom firing. The professor in the classroom was shot point blank. Others were hit, she told her family. 
 
 Everyone in the classroom dropped to the ground. 
 
 The gunman, while reloading his handgun, ordered the students to stand up if they were Christians, Boylan told her family. 
 
 "And they would stand up and he said, 'Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second,'" Boylan's father, Stacy, told CNN, relaying her account. 
 
 "And then he shot and killed them." 
 
 [Last update posted at 11:28 p.m. ET] 
 
 (CNN ) -- Ten people were killed when a gunman opened fire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, forcing the nation to face yet another mass shooting. 
 
 Seven other people were injured, and the shooter is dead, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told reporters. Earlier estimates had put the number of people hurt much higher. 
 
 Multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation identified the gunman as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. Investigators have interviewed members of his family and friends, they said. 
 
 "I will not name the shooter," Hanlin said. "I will not give him the credit he probably sought." 
 
 Authorities credited a quick response by law enforcement for keeping the death toll from climbing higher. 
 
 A law enforcement official said the shooter had body armor with him and was heavily armed, with a large amount of ammunition -- enough for a prolonged gunfight. 
 
 Hanlin said tactical teams and bomb squads had cleared the buildings on campus and were working to clear hundreds of vehicles parked on campus. 
 
 Tactical teams/bomb technicians have cleared all campus buildings; officers working to clear hundreds of campus-parked vehicles #UCCShooting — Douglas Co Sheriff (@DouglasCoSO) October 2, 2015 
 
 Huddled together 
 
 Cassandra Welding is a student at the Roseburg campus and was in class when the shooting started. 
 
 "I heard a popping noise, almost like a balloon popping," she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I knew something wasn't right and so I get down." 
 
 She said all of the students in her classroom dropped to the ground. They huddled together behind backpacks and chairs, underneath tables. 
 
 "We locked the doors, turned off the lights, and we were all pretty much in panic mode," Welding said. 
 
 "We called 911 and called our parents, our loved ones ... We didn't know what was going to happen, if those were our last words or not." 
 
 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Community members attend a candlelight vigil at Stewart Park for those killed during a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on Thursday, October 1. The massacre left nine people dead and nine wounded. The gunman also died. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college In response to the shooting on October 1, President Barack Obama delivers the 15th statement of his presidency addressing gun violence. "Somehow this has become routine," he said. "The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this." Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Students and faculty are reunited with friends and family at the county fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college People wait for information at the fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Hannah Miles, center, is reunited with her sister Hailey and father, Gary, on October 1. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A student waits to walk off a school bus at the fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Friends and family are reunited on October 1. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A woman is comforted after the deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on October 1. Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin announced at a news conference that the shooter was dead. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Authorities secure the campus after the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Students, staff and faculty leave the school on October 1. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A bullet casing is marked at the scene of the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college People gather at a roadblock near the entrance to the college on October 1. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Authorities respond after reports of the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Police search students outside the school on October 1. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A patient is wheeled into the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg on October 1. Hide Caption 15 of 15 
 
 The shooting 
 
 The shooting appears to have started in one building before the gunman moved to the school's science building, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. Those killed and wounded were found in at least two classrooms. 
 
 "We arrived to find multiple patients in multiple classrooms. Law enforcement was on scene and had the shooter neutralized," said Douglas County Fire Marshal Ray Shoufler. 
 
 He told CNN that two patients died while being transported to a hospital. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Multiple guns found at scene of UCC shooting Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Multiple guns found at scene of UCC shooting 01:51 
 
 Mercy Medical Center posted on Facebook that it had received 10 patients. The extent of their injuries was not known. 
 
 Three female victims were at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, according to a hospital spokeswoman. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear why the hospitals' numbers conflicted with the figure provided by Sheriff Hanlin. 
 
 A law enforcement official told CNN three pistols and one rifle believed to have belonged to the suspect were recovered at the scene. 
 
 ATF agents were also on scene and canine teams were en route to search for explosives, fire arms casings and ammunition, a spokesman said. FBI agents were en route. 
 
 The community 
 
 Roseburg is a city of about 22,000 people about 70 miles south of Eugene, Oregon, and some 180 miles south of Portland. 
 
 The school itself is up on a hill outside the city center, according to Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst who lives nearby. Francona said that logging is a big industry in the region, which is fairly rural but easily accessible from Interstate 5. 
 
 "This is so out of character for this whole area," he said. 
 
 News of the shooting quickly reached Washington, with the state's senior senator, Ron Wyden, visibly shaken and Sen. Jeff Merkley tweeting that he was praying for the victims and their families. 
 
 Oregonians everywhere want Roseburg to know we're praying for them. — Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) October 1, 2015 
 
 Horrific news from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. My heart and prayers are with the victims and their families. — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) October 1, 2015 
 
 U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation and will continue to receive updates throughout the day. 
 
 He pushed for a change in gun laws when he spoke to reporters about the shooting Thursday. 
 
 "Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this," he said. 
 
 The President continued: "Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It's not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel, and it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America -- next week, or a couple months from now." 
 
 The school 
 
 A picturesque campus in the North Umpqua River Valley, Umpqua Community College prides itself on a "a peaceful, safe atmosphere, and year-round recreational activities," according to its website. 
 
 It's not a traditional institution of higher learning, as the average age of its 13,600 students was 38 during the 2013-2014 school year. Only 740 of those were full time, 2,437 were part time and more than 10,000 fell under the umbrella of "community education." 
 
 It first began teaching classes out of rented facilities in 1961. Elton and Ruth Jackson donated 98.5 acres to house the campus in 1965. 
 
 The school will be closed until Monday as a result of the shooting. 
 
 The interim leader of Umpqua Community College called Thursday "the saddest day in the history of the college."
– A shooting at a community college in Oregon has left at least 10 people dead, reports KOIN. At least another 7 people were injured, some of them critically. (Reports varied throughout the day on how many were killed and injured.) "We arrived to find multiple patients in multiple classrooms," the Douglas County Fire Marshal tells CNN. The Oregon attorney general tells CBS News the gunman is dead. Details are still developing; click for more on the shooter, the president's response, or stories of horror from the shooting.