The 20-year-old who opened fire in a Bend, Oregon, supermarket, killing two before he turned the gun on himself, was a loner who was passionate about mixed martial arts and was known for getting into fights at the high school where he graduated in 2020.
The shooter, identified Monday by police as Ethan Blair Miller, of Bend, “tried to fight quite literally everybody” at Mountain View High School, former classmate Isaac Thomas told The Associated Press. Thomas said the gunman once threatened to shoot him after a fight at their school.
Police confirmed Monday they are investigating the “shooter’s writings” but declined to comment further on postings on several online platforms that appear to have been written by him in recent months.
In posts on several sites, someone who appears to be the gunman says he’s struggled to recover from the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, expresses hatred for himself and indicates he planned to attack his alma mater next week, but couldn’t wait until then because “the Rage has become uncontrollable.”
Authorities sought a search warrant for digital devices found at the gunman’s apartment and it will take several days to go through those materials and develop a clearer picture, said Police Chief Mike Krantz.
“We have that information. A lot of people sent us follow-up information about what has been posted on social media or other outlets and our investigators will sift through that information and make those connections — if it’s truly connected— and ensure that we have accurate information,” he said.
Police have no evidence of prior contact with the gunman and he had no criminal record in the area, authorities said.
Thomas, the former classmate, said the shooter had worked at the Safeway and Thomas had run into him there two years ago.
The shooter graduated from Mountain View High School in Bend in 2020, according to online records, and Thomas remembered him as an extremely combative person who had few friends.
Thomas said he was suspended for a week as a freshman for fighting with the gunman. The gunman held onto a grudge from that fight and once threatened to shoot him, Thomas told AP.
“At one point he said he was going to shoot me and I was like, ‘Get over yourself’ because I didn’t think he had a gun, but I guess I was wrong,” Thomas said.
Thomas recalled running into the shooter in 2020 in the parking lot of the Safeway, where the gunman was gathering up carts as part of his job. He recognized him and threatened him again although several years had gone by, Thomas said.
“It was kind of crazy when I heard about it,” he said of the shooting. “But it makes sense that he chose Safeway because he worked there and he knew the layout.”
