Safeway Worker Tried To Stop Gunman During Oregon Shooting: Police

BEND, OR — A 20-year-old armed with an AR-15 style rifle killed two people in an attack Sunday at a Safeway grocery store in central Oregon, according to police, who said two others were injured in the course of the shooting.

It was just after 7 p.m., a busy time at the Forum Shopping Center in Bend, when the gunman approached the complex from the nearby Fox Hollow Apartments, where he lived, firing rounds as he moved through the parking lot, police said.

The gunman entered Safeway from the west, fatally shooting 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett, of Bend, according to police, who said the shooter continued firing as he moved through the business until he encountered 66-year-old Bend resident and Safeway employee Donald Ray Surrett Jr.

Surrett attacked the gunman and tried to disarm him, according to police.

“Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident,” Sheila Miller, communications manager for the Bend Police Department, said at a press conference streamed Monday on YouTube. “We believe he prevented further deaths.”

Surrett was fatally shot near the back of the store in the produce section, according to police.

“When our officers arrived they could hear gunshots in the Safeway and they entered the store to confront the shooter while shots were still being fired,” Miller said.

Police found the shooter dead, also in the produce section, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Miller, who said the AR-15 and a shotgun were nearby. The gunman's body was discovered just four minutes after the initial barrage of 911 calls about the attack, Miller said. Authorities have identified the shooter as Ethan Blair Miller.

The two injured victims are expected to survive, according to police, who noted reports of a second gunman were determined to be unfounded.

“We need to guard against the cynicism of thinking of these attacks on order and our peace as regular, unavoidable things,” Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Broadman said at the press conference Monday. “I won’t accept that. I know the community of Bend won't accept that.”

Located in the center of Oregon, Bend is a small city with a population of about 100,000.

The FBI, Department of Justice, and agencies from across central Oregon are assisting in the investigation, police said.

In the aftermath of the shooting, authorities found three Molotov cocktails and a sawed-off shotgun in Ethan Miller’s vehicle, as well as ammunition and digital devices in his apartment, according to police. The discovery resulted in the evacuation of eight units in the Fox Hollow complex due to concerns about explosives, police said, adding a state bomb squad was brought in to clear the grocery store and the shooter's apartment.

Ethan Miller had no criminal history in the area and police had no prior knowledge of him, according to authorities, who said the gunman may have posted about a plan online. Police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine the status of the shooter's guns, authorities said.

Counselors and victim compensation are being made available to community members, and a vigil was planned for Monday night. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call 541-322-6380.