Roseburg: The 26-year-old killer who gunned down classmates at an Oregon college spared a student and gave the "lucky one" something to deliver to authorities, according to the mother of a student who witnessed the rampage.
Others weren't as fortunate. Parents of students in the classroom said the gunman shot one after saying she could save her life by begging. Others were killed after being told to crawl across the floor.
Shooter Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer later killed himself as officers arrived, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said yesterday.
Authorities have not disclosed whether they have an envelope or package from Harper-Mercer. However, a law enforcement official said a manifesto of several pages had been recovered.
Bonnie Schaan, the mother of 16-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, said she was told by her daughter that the gunman gave someone an envelope and told him to go to a corner of the classroom.
Harper-Mercer said the person "'was going to be the lucky one,'" Schaan told reporters outside a hospital where her daughter's kidney was removed after she was shot.
Relatives of other survivors also said Harper-Mercer gave something to a student in the class.
Pastor Randy Scroggins, whose 18-year-old daughter Lacey escaped without physical injuries, said she told him that the gunman called to a student, saying: "'Don't worry, you're the one who is going to survive.'"
Harper-Mercer then told the student that inside the shooter's backpack was "all the information that you'll need. Give it to the police," Scroggins said, citing the account by his daughter.
Scroggins also said his daughter heard the gunman tell one victim he would spare that person's life if the student begged, then shot the begging victim anyway.
Lacey Scroggins also spoke about students being ordered to crawl to the middle of the room before being shot.
Randy Scroggins said his daughter survived because she was lying on the floor and partially covered by the body of a fellow student. The gunman thought Lacey Scroggins was dead as well, stepped over her and shot someone else.
Janet Willis said her granddaughter Anastasia Boylan was wounded in the Thursday attack and pretended to be dead as Harper-Mercer kept firing, killing eight students and a teacher.
