Customer, employee die when gunman opens fire in Safeway supermarket, Oregon cops say

An 84-year-old customer and 66-year-old worker were killed when a suspected gunman opened fire in an Oregon grocery store, police said. The suspected shooter was also killed.

Police responded to the Forum Shopping Center around 7:04 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, in Bend, police said in a news release.

A man, identified as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, of Bend, came to the shopping center from his apartment nearby, moved through a Costco parking lot and fired rounds from an AR-15-style rifle, police said during a media briefing.

Then he went into a Safeway in northeast Bend, police said.

At the store entrance, Miller shot Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, of Bend, police said. Bennett was taken to a hospital where he died, police said.

Miller then continued into the store and fired his weapon, killing 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr., who was an employee at Safeway, police said. Surrett tried to disarm him, police said.

“We believe he prevented further deaths in addition to the quick police response,” Bend police spokesperson Sheila Miller said during a media briefing on Monday, Aug. 29.

Police responded to the grocery store “still hearing shots.” They found Miller dead with a AR-15-style rifle and shotgun nearby in the produce section at 7:08 p.m., authorities said.

Officers did not fire their weapons, police said. He was found with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” police said.

“At least two” people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

One man was inside the store with his four children when the accused gunman walked in, KTVZ reported.

“About 10 minutes later, we started heading to the front. Then we heard I don’t know how many shots out front — six or seven. I immediately turned to my children and said, ‘Run!’ People were screaming … it was a horrifying experience,” Josh Caba told the news outlet.

There was a report of another shooter, and of “shots fired” in another area, but police said they didn’t find evidence of either.

Molotov cocktails and a sawed off shotgun were found in Miller’s vehicle by police. Digital devices and ammunition were found in his apartment, authorities said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the police tip line at 541-322-6380.

Bend is about 130 miles east of Eugene.

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