According to police spokeswoman Sheila Miller, one of the victims struggled to take the gunman’s weapon during the shooting that occurred at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, on Sunday.
According to police, two people were killed in the shooting. Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, who was shot in front of the store, and Donald Ray Surrett Jr., a Safeway employee, 66, who resisted the shooter, were both identified.
“This is the Safeway employee who engaged with the shooter, which is to say he attempted to disarm the shooter and attacked this person, and we believe he prevented further deaths in addition to the quick police response,” Miller said.
Police have named the shooter as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, who was found dead at the scene. According to Chief Mike Krantz, police discovered a shotgun and an AR-15-style rifle close to Miller’s body.
According to Krantz, the shooting happened at the shopping center just after 7 o’clock on Sunday. Miller said that although there is no proof of a second shooter, police initially received reports that there might have been more than one shooter. According to reports, at least two additional people also suffered non-life-threatening wounds, said Miller.
The attack’s motivation is still unknown. However, an FBI report notes that it comes after a string of other shootings that have taken place in grocery stores across the nation in the previous year and amid an overall rise in “active shooter” incidents.