Everett Daily Herald, October 02, 2015

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OSO MUDSLIDE

Timber company says it bears no responsibility Grandy Lake Forest Associates is asking to be left out of the lawsuit filed by families who lost loved ones and homes. By Scott North

it is partially responsible for the tragedy. Grandy Lake Forest Associates contends that neither liability law nor emerging evidence about the hill’s geology support the case brought against it by lawyers representing people who lost families and homes in the mudslide.

thinned trees above the hill that unleashed the Oso mudslide has asked a King County judge to spare it from being forced into court next year to fight claims that

Herald Writer

OSO — A timber company that over the years clear-cut and

Attorneys for the Skagit County-based company have filed a summary judgment motion, now scheduled to be heard Oct. 16. They contend that the facts are so clearly in Grandy Lake’s favor that a trial would be unnecessary. “Grandy Lake can only imagine

‘It’s been a terrible day’ ■ Gunman demanded to know

■ At least 10 dead, including the

victims’ religion, survivor says

shooter, at small Oregon college

the impact of this tragedy on its victims and their families. But Grandy Lake is not responsible for their pain, and it should be dismissed from this lawsuit,” the timber company’s attorneys said in court papers. See OSO, Page A2

MARYSVILLE PILCHUCK

Tragedy too close to home; ‘be gentle’ Almost a year after a gunman shot 5 friends and himself, Marysville Pilchuck High is ‘dealing with some of the fallout’ from Oregon. By Eric Stevick Herald Writer

See ‘TERRIBLE,’ back page, this section

See FAMILIAR, back page, this section

ANDY NELSON / THE REGISTER-GUARD VIA AP

Jessica Vazquez (left) hugs her aunt, Leticia Acaraz, as they await word on Acaraz’s daughter after the deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on Thursday.

By Jeff Barnard and Gosia Wozniacka

School shooting in Oregon

Associated Press

Umpqua Community College 5

Auditorium

Student center

Library

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Finance office

75 mi

CALIF.

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Welcome center and Administration

Snyder Hall

Detail

Educational Skills Building

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Business . . . .A11 Classified . . . . B1 Comics . .D4

Portland Salem OREGON

Fitness center

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ROSEBURG, Ore. — A gunman opened fire inside a classroom at a rural Oregon community college Thursday, killing at least nine people before dying in a shootout with police, authorities said. One survivor said he demanded his victims state their religion before he started shooting. The attack shattered the first week of classes at Umpqua Community College in the small timber town of Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland. The killer was identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, according to a government official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided the name on condition of anonymity. Authorities shed no light on his motive and said they were investigating. Hannah Miles, a 19-year-old freshman, was in her writing class when her teacher got a call from security saying the school was in lockdown. She heard gunshots from a neighboring classroom. Huddled together in the locked classroom, the students and teacher heard a footsteps outside and a man’s voice call out

WASH.

Science Building

SOURCE: Pictometry International Corp., Umpqua Community College ASSOCIATED PRESS

to them, “Come on out, come on out,” Miles said. They remained quiet and didn’t open the door. Police soon arrived, Miles said, and after students were convinced that it was indeed officers, they opened the door. “It was like a huge burden had been lifted,” she said. “A huge sigh of relief that we were going to be OK.” Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said at least two officers acted heroically in the shootout, but it was not clear if the gunman

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was killed by authorities or whether he took his own life. At a news conference, a visibly angry Hanlin said he would not name the shooter. “I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act,” he said. Mercer had been living at an apartment complex in nearby Winchester. Yellow police tape surrounded the building Thursday night. A neighbor, Bronte Hart, said

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Mercer would “sit by himself in the dark in the balcony with this little light.” Hart said a woman she believed to be Mercer’s mother also lived upstairs and was “crying her eyes out” Thursday. Sarah Cobb, 17, was in a writing class when gunfire erupted in the next room. She heard a shot, but thought a book had fallen. Then a teacher said they needed to get out, and the class ran out the door as she heard two more shots. “I was freaking out. I didn’t know what to think, what to do,” she said. Distressed parents rushed to the county fairgrounds, where students were being taken by bus to reunite with families. Jessica Chandler was at the fairgrounds desperately seeking information about her 18-yearold daughter, Rebecka Carnes. “I don’t know where she is. I don’t know if she’s wounded. I have no idea where she’s at,” Chandler said. Carnes’ best friend told Chandler that her daughter had been flown by helicopter to a hospital, but she had not been able to find her at area medical centers.

MARYSVILLE — The tragedy might have occurred hundreds of miles away, but it felt close to home. The Marysville School District on Thursday quickly posted a simple message on the district Facebook page. It read: “Our hearts and thoughts go out to Umpqua Community College and the Roseburg, Oregon community.” Nearly a year ago, Marysville Pilchuck High School endured the loss of five young lives when a freshmen shot his closest friends before killing himself in a school cafeteria. On Thursday, a 26-year-old man gunned down people at the Oregon college. “What Marysville Pilchuck is doing right now, as well as every other school that has been through something like this, they are dealing with some of the fallout,” said Mary Schoenfeldt, a trauma expert who worked on recovery efforts with the Marysville School District for several months after the shootings here. “It (takes) people back to their own experience. They will feel compassion for the victims and witnesses and it will be a reminder of what their experience was.” Schoenfeldt said adults — parents, counselors and other staff — should remind students and themselves that they have come a long way since the Oct. 24, 2014, shootings. “Just listen to them and be gentle with them,” she said. Writing a note can be as helpful for the senders channeling their thoughts as it is to the receivers coping with the shock and sadness, she said. For now, the Marysville School District and volunteers are planning a “Walk of Strength” event

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