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Umpqua Community College shooter apparently announced his plans on 4chan yesterday

Police inspecting bags of students at Umpqua Community College after the shooting today
Police inspecting bags of students at Umpqua Community College after the shooting today

UPDATE: The shooter has been identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer. Rumors spread earlier in the day that the shooter was a a regular 4channer and active Youtuber known as “the eggman.” Obviously they were wrong.

This is beyond fucked up. In this archived thread from 4chan’s /r9k/ board, the apparent shooter at Umpqua Community College told fellow channers yesterday of his plans to shoot up a school today. He didn’t specify which school, mentioning only that it was in the “northwest.” /r9k/ is a board heavily populated by so-called “incels,” and the media is reporting that the apparent shooter regularly posted bitter complaints about his lack of success with women,

UPDATE 2: There is a lot of confusing and contradictory information out there, and the IDing of the killer has actually raised more questions than it’s resolved. An apparent Myspace page for Harper-Mercer suggests that he was obsessed both with guns and with the IRA.

There have also been reports that he was targeting Christians. According to the New York Post, a “woman who claimed to have a grandmother inside a writing class in Snyder Hall, where a portion the massacre unfolded” reported that

“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian,” she wrote. “If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no, or didn’t answer, they were shot in the legs.

So was he — as an apparent supporter of the IRA — targeting Protestants? The Daiy Beast, for its part, says the shooter “hated religion.” Chuck C. Johnson of GotNews says he’s “confirmed” that the shooter was a Muslim.

Is the Myspace page really his? Is the report from the alleged granddaughter bullshit? Was the 4chan posting yesterday actually from him, or a comment from a troll that just happened to have been posted the day before a school shooting in the northwest?

I don’t know. But I still recommend that you read the rest of this post, if only to see the comments from the other 4channers.

Screenshots below:

Here’s his first comment warning fellow channers not to go to school today if they live in the northwest.

umpwarning

He then said he’d post again shortly before he started to shoot. (I don’t know if he did.)

ump10min

Because 4chan is a fucking cesspool, other channers offered him advice:

umpadvice

Another anon suggested that indiscriminate killing wasn’t the solution, seeming to imply that more targeted killing was?

umprandom

Others put forth their ideas of what sorts of people might be considered appropriate targets:

umpad2

umptarg

More encouragement. Note the reference to Elliot Rodger, the Santa Barbara “incel” killer.

umpenc

umenc2

umpenc3

umpenc4

umpenc5

umpenc6

A few others urged the OP to NOT carry out his plans.

umpdnt

umpwhite

After reports of the shooting hit the news, anons reacted with amazement:

umpafter

Amazement and enthusiasm:

umpafter2

In case you’re wondering, “kek” is the equivalent of “lol.”

More excitement:

4chanagain

4cchan2

4chaf

There’s much more of this in the thread.

Naturally, someone claims that the shooting could have been averted if only the shooter could have found a girlfriend.

vict

Yes that’s right: he thinks the shooter was himself a victim, presumably of the entire female gender.

There’s a lot more in the thread but honestly I can’t stomach it right now.

Note: This post has been updated numerous times.

266 Comments
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Michael Lindsay
9 years ago

My mind is in three places, place one is numb, place two wants to punch things, place three wants to cry.

Help.

Pandapool -- The Species that Endangers YOU (aka Banana Jackie Cake, for those who still want to call me "Banana", "Jackie" or whatever)
Pandapool -- The Species that Endangers YOU (aka Banana Jackie Cake, for those who still want to call me "Banana", "Jackie" or whatever)
9 years ago

One story in the news the other day that made my blood boil was reading that the parents of one the victims in the Aurora Theatre Shootings had attempted to sue the ammo company who had supplied Holmes with much of his ammunition, over the internet FFS! They lost, and are now ordered to pay the ammo company $200k, which the company announced it will donate the settlement to a pro-gun organization.

comment image

sunnysombrera
9 years ago

@Kat

Thread of Doom [noun]: a chain of comments regarding a sensitive issue that blows up into a huge argument. Usually started by a new visitor who refuses to watch their tone or apologise for anything, but sometimes some regulars take sides and fighting occurs and eventually things get said that can’t be taken back. Then someone leaves and everyone involved (except the newbie that started it) realises the shitstorm that’s just happened, with regret.

Angelique
Angelique
9 years ago

No such thing as “female gender” sex doesn’t equal gender PSA

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

I’m torn on my stance towards the shooter.

On one hand, I want him to be completly ignored amd forgotten – he was apparently looking for a sort of fame.

On the other, I do think it’s worthwhile to examine motives (and, like others, regret that he didn’t live if for only that reason).

For what it’s worth:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/01/umpqua-gunman-id-d-as-chris-harper-mercer.html

(Not a fan of The Daily Beast, but it was the first article that came up with all the links together in one place…and my husband took all the coffee this morning – it’s a cold, rainy one here on the US East Coast -, so I’m posting this while waiting for more to brew and without the aide of caffeine.)

sn0rkmaiden
9 years ago

@Pandapool,

yup, that gif nails it.

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

@Michael, others in need of brain bleach –

If you like dogs, here’s a pic of our recent adoption:

http://imgur.com/dHVhP2n

If you like cats, here’s a pic of our most persnikitty (is that the right spelling? If it isn’t, it should be) cat:

http://imgur.com/P4RYIrL

If you like neither, here are some photogenic weeds / morning glories on their nission to on cover every inch of the yard:

http://imgur.com/YBYpZYx

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

Ugh, I meant to post direct links rather than those.

And mind the typos.

*eyes gurgling coffee maker*

Michael Lindsay
9 years ago

They’re weeds? They look awesome. I guess it’s a pretty arbitrary term.

Props to your persnikitty and sleepy pup.

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

MOAR DOGGIE PICS:

http://i.imgur.com/8lepJlm.jpg

Because dogs like everyone by default.
At least this one does.

She’s like the opposite of a mass shooting.
I like knowing that the opposite’s out there.

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

@Michael – They’re growing on *everything*, or at least trying to.

I’ve been letting them go where they don’t cause harm – they’re pretty and the hummingbirds like them.

Kat
Kat
9 years ago

@sunnysombrera
Thanks for the definition of Thread of Doom. It’s most enlightening.

I’ll pass the info on to “my friend.”

Mieze
9 years ago

This can’t just go on. This can’t be hopeless. This will stop somehow. Right?

And I don’t completely understand, kfreed?

EJ (The Other One)
EJ (The Other One)
9 years ago

@mockingbird:

Your kitty is indeed most persnickety! Also very photogenic and dignified.

Kat
Kat
9 years ago

Happy animals. Happy flowers. Thanks!

And I’m up all night, working, petting cats, and listening to jazz and jazz DJs with mellifluous voices.

Luzbelitx
9 years ago

@Kat

Thank you, it’s been a very long night and I don’t think I can person today.

I didn’t see it coming at all… We had problems but I thought we were working them out.

Terrible day to have my heart broken. I’ll be in bed until…. Until forever, I guess.

Policy of Madness
Policy of Madness
9 years ago

A weed is any plant growing in a place you don’t want it to grow.

Morning glories and their kin can definitely become invasive. They re-seed themselves prolifically. Their seeds stagger themselves, with most germinating after one winter and a few waiting until two or three or four winters to sprout.

The ones in mockingbird’s picture look like they are advancing toward a nice wooded area, which makes me nervous.

Sarah
Sarah
9 years ago

This can’t just go on. This can’t be hopeless. This will stop somehow. Right?

I don’t know. Mother Jones has pointed out that it’s been 16 years since Columbine and we’ve literally gone from being shocked at that shooting to shrugging our shoulders.

We have a president who has made calls for action, but Congress won’t work with him. Many of the Congresspeople who are there now were elected specifically to oppose him. And the article I posted in my previous comment seems to indicate that we’ve been locked into a vicious cycle wherein this happens, everyone wrings their hands, offers prayers and positive thoughts, makes speeches about how terrible it was, but we’re barred from actually *doing anything*, even to the point where a federal agency can’t research the feasibility of doing something.

But if we’re going to do something, I suggest we start by electing politicians who are willing to do something, and voting out the ones who aren’t.

Kat
Kat
9 years ago

@Luzbelitx
Have a virtual stuffed animal–whatever shape you like–to cuddle.

You’ll be okay. Maybe not right away, but you’ll be okay.

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

@PoM – They actually probably came from there. They, stiltgrass, and Autumn Olives are pestilence in this area.

I hand pull the morning glories around natives / anywhere I find them in the woods, pull as much of the stiltgrass as I can manage (but, given its prolific seeding, end up focusing on giving ferns and seedlings breathing room), and pull the Autumn Olives if they’re small enough / chop them (again…and again…and again…) if they’re larger and entangled in other root systems.

The morning glories are an invasive, but at least the hummingbirds and bees like them.

The Autumn Olives…pretty trees/bushes that have lovely berries that the birds love (and poop everwhere!), but they’ll crowd out and kill almost any native – unless I want a field of scrub, they need to go.

And the stiltgrass…has no redeeming qualities. I know it was brought in to control erosion, but nothing eats it (not even the darn deer) and it crowds out any ground level plants and seedlings.

We don’t use pesticides (ok, ok – I sparingly used organocides and insecticidal soap on some of my food plants this year) or herbicides, so it’s all a slow, imperfect manual slog on 5 acres.

But we have frogs!
And toads!
And more bees than you can count!

So, there’s that.

mockingbird
mockingbird
9 years ago

@Lulz – I missed the part about the break up.

((((((hugs)))))) if you want them.

Luzbelitx
9 years ago

Thank you, Kat and mockingbird. Hugs and stuffed animals really help! I know I’ll make it through… I just wish it didn’t hurt so damn much.

Thank you again, I’ll stay off the pc for a while now, hopefully to get some rest.

spacelawn
9 years ago

4chan: Asshole of the internet.

EJ (The Other One)
EJ (The Other One)
9 years ago

Hugs, Luzbelitx.

mildlymagnificent
9 years ago

Argenti

I’m still around but I don’t seem to comment as much as I used to.