Governor Kate Brown on Friday met with Bend police officers and first responders in the wake of the August 28 shooting at a Safeway grocery store that left three dead, including the suspected gunman, and sent shockwaves through the community and across the state.
The shooting at the Eastside Safeway in Bend occurred shortly after 7 p.m. that Saturday, when 20-year-old Bend resident Ethan Blair Miller reportedly opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle in the store parking lot before entering the business.
One victim, 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett, of Bend, was gunned down at the Safeway entrance. Officers and medics with Bend Fire & Rescue rendered aid at the scene and later transported Bennett to a hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
Inside, 66-year-old Safeway employee Donald Ray Surrett Jr., also of La Pine, reportedly engaged the shooter, attacking him with a knife and attempting to disarm him.
Police say Surrett’s heroic actions delayed the gunman and almost certainly saved lives, but they cost him his own. Surrett was fatally shot and died at the scene.
Both men were Army veterans, with Bennett having served in the Korean War.
Bend Police officers arrived on scene within two to three minutes of the dispatched call, immediately entering the store and reportedly running toward the gunman as shots were still being fired.
The shooter, who was also carrying a shotgun in addition to the assault rifle, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Bend officers did not fire any shots.
Two additional civilians sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the assault.
Bend Police were assisted in the tragedy by every law enforcement agency in the region, including the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police, Redmond Police Department and Bend Fire & Rescue, as well as the federal Department of Justice and the FBI
“We are extremely grateful for all of these agencies’ assistance as we continue this investigation,” the department said in a statement.
The governor’s visit on Friday, September 2, came as regional and state leaders offered condolences for the tragedy while also calling for action.
“My heart goes out to the victims of this attack and their families,” said Brown. “The entire Bend community has been shaken by this tragedy, and on behalf of the entire state, I am here to say we are here with you as you grieve and heal.”
Brown, who was joined by city police, fire, city and elected officials, praised the Bend police officers and first responders for their quick and courageous action.
“Only four minutes elapsed from the time of the initial dispatch call to the time the store was secured,” the governor noted. “They ran into the store while shots were being fired. Because they responded so quickly, lives were saved.”
Governor Kate Brown on Twitter: “The Bend police officers and first responders who were on duty Sunday night ran into the store while shots were being fired. Because they responded so quickly, lives were saved. Thank you.The victims, their families, and the Bend community remain in all our thoughts. pic.twitter.com/Odm5jbBHQH / Twitter”
The Bend police officers and first responders who were on duty Sunday night ran into the store while shots were being fired. Because they responded so quickly, lives were saved. Thank you.The victims, their families, and the Bend community remain in all our thoughts. pic.twitter.com/Odm5jbBHQH
Brown, a Democrat, also took the opportunity of a written statement to lightly nudge the conversation toward actions that could be taken to curb gun violence, as Oregon voters prepare to consider a ballot measure that would give the state among the nation’s most restrictive gun laws.
“Everyone has the right to be safe from gun violence,” she said. “Every Oregonian should be able to go to grocery stores, to school, and to places of worship without fear of gun violence.”
Longtime U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, who faces a reelection bid in November but is projected to win easily, was more direct — though equally light on specifics — in comments made the day after the shooting.
“The Oregonians who went to shop or to work at the Bend shopping center where last night’s mass shooting happened need our thoughts and actions,” Wyden said on Twitter. “America cannot just shrug its shoulders at another mass shooting with loved ones grieving the loss of family and friends.”
He noted that the Senate, where he and his Democratic colleagues maintain a razor-thin majority, in June took what he described as a “a small step … toward reducing the threats of mass shootings,” passing a bill that, while narrow, still represented the first new gun regulations of any kind passed by Congress in more than three decades.
Ron Wyden on Twitter: “The Oregonians who went to shop or to work at the Bend shopping center where last night’s mass shooting happened need our thoughts and actions. America cannot just shrug its shoulders at another mass shooting with loved ones grieving the loss of family and friends. / Twitter”
The Oregonians who went to shop or to work at the Bend shopping center where last night’s mass shooting happened need our thoughts and actions. America cannot just shrug its shoulders at another mass shooting with loved ones grieving the loss of family and friends.
“I’m willing to work with anybody who’s sick and tired of mass shootings to find solutions that put an end to this gun violence madness once and for all,” he concluded.
