10 dead in shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon

Hannah Miles, center, is reunited with her sister Hailey Miles, left, and father Gary Miles, right, after a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (AFP)
What you need to know:
The gunman was named as Chris Harper Mercer, a 26-year-old man who lived near Umpqua college in the rural town of Roseburg. He is thought to have been born in England before moving to the US as a young boy.
Winchester, Oregan (AP). A gunman opened fire at an Oregon community college killing at least 10 people and wounding nearly a dozen, authorities said.
The shooting happened at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland. The local fire district advised people via Twitter to stay away from the school. It later tweeted that there were "multiple casualties" but did not elaborate.
The gunman was named as Chris Harper Mercer, a 26-year-old man who lived near Umpqua college in the rural town of Roseburg. He is thought to have been born in England before moving to the US as a young boy.
Investigators were focusing on reports from survivors that Mercer told students to state their religion before he opened fire.
The police were also looking at reports that hours before the attack he posted messages on an internet chat site warning people to stay away from school. Investigators said they were attempting to trace people on the site who discouraged him while others urged him on. It does not appear anyone reported the messages to the authorities before the shooting.
The man killed by police on Thursday after he fatally shot nine people at a community college in southern Oregon was a nervy 26-year-old who lived close to the campus and described himself as shy, according to neighbors, media and online reports.
A law enforcement source said multiple agencies had identified the shooter as Chris Harper-Mercer. Online directories list a man of that name as having lived in Torrance, California, before moving to Winchester, Oregon.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the name of the shooter, but on Thursday night law enforcement officers were out in force at the Winchester apartment building identified in databases as Harper-Mercer's residence.
Two neighbors said they recognized online photos of Harper-Mercer as a man from the apartment building. A phone number listed for the address was busy.
The killer used four guns, including a type of assault rifle, in the classroom attack, CNN said. Seven people were also wounded at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, a timber town of about 20,000 people that adjoins Winchester.
A photo posted on a MySpace profile belonging to someone named Chris Harper-Mercer, from Torrance, showed a young man with a shaved head, dark-rimmed glasses and a serious expression. He was holding a long-barreled gun.
A neighbor next door to the Winchester building said Thursday night he recognized online photos of Harper-Mercer as being his neighbor.
"I just started noticing him the last 4-6 months, there's a playground out behind the apartments, and we're on the second story. I go outside to smoke and I watch for anyone," said neighbor Steven Fisher, who also said he had never spoken to Harper-Mercer.
"Around 5-5:30 in the evening I'd see him out there with a couple kids. He seemed skittish, always looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching," Fisher said.
Another neighbor also recognized online photos of Harper-Mercer as being a man he knew from the neighborhood.
Many law enforcement cars, personnel and dogs had gathered at the pink apartment complex, about a four-minute drive from Umpqua Community College, by early Thursday evening.