Most of the media discussions about the shootings in Oregon, in which nine people were killed and ten more wounded, are about the availability of fire-arms. But another theme may be more to the point: The killer reportedly was targeting Christians.
Some are disputing or downplaying that now, so we may know more as the investigation proceeds. But, still, this may be a case of anti-Christian violence.
From Oregon shooter said to have singled out Christians for killing in ‘horrific act of cowardice’ – The Washington Post:
Investigators including cyber-experts and hate crime specialists peered Friday into the life of a 26-year-old gunman whose massacre across an Oregon campus may have been driven by religious rage and a fascination with the twisted notoriety of high-profile killers.
What is known so far about the attacker — identified by a U.S. law enforcement official as Chris Harper Mercer — appear only as loose strands that suggested an interest in firearms and the infamy gained by mass shooters.
Witnesses also said he seemed to seek specific revenge against Christians, and police examined Web posts that hinted of wider antipathy toward organized faith.
But authorities still struggled to build a clearer picture at what drove the California-raised Mercer to stalk rural Umpqua Community College — armed with three pistols and a semiautomatic rifle — and methodically pick off students and professors Thursday on the fourth day of the fall semester.
At the end, nine people were dead, plus Mercer, and the college joined the mournful roster of America’s mass shooting sites.At least 10 others were admitted for treatment at the Mercy Medical Center, said the chief medical officer, Jason Gray, on Friday. Three patients were transferred to larger facilities for more intensive care, he added.
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