A father and his four children were caught in a shooting rampage in Bend, Oregon. A gunman opened fire at Safeway Supermarket on Sunday in which two people were killed before the gunman apparently took his own life.
Josh Caba was inside the store with his four children when they heard gunfire. His wife was not feeling well and was in the car outside.
Caba stated, “About 10 minutes later, we started heading to the front. Then we heard I don’t know how many shots out front — six or seven. I immediately turned to my children and said, ‘Run!’ People were screaming. It was a horrifying experience.”
While the gunshots rang out, Caba said that his wife drove around to the back of the store. He and three of his children emerged out of the back of the store after running through the produce department.
He recalled exiting to see his wife “sitting in the car, saying ‘Get in the car! Get in the car!’”
Caba went back into the store to find his fourth child and brought her to safety.
Caba said, “When I got out of that store and the kids were rounded up, they (officers) are running into the store. They are wonderful people. They deserve all the praise and credit in the world. It is absolutely more terrifying than you can imagine to have someone shooting at your kids. They are rock stars!”
Sadly, there were two Victims that night. They were identified as Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, a customer who was shot in front of the store, and Safeway employee Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66. Surrett has been hailed as a hero. Surrett Jr., fought the shooter before he was killed, police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said, according to CNN.
A spokeswoman for the police said, “Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident. This is the Safeway employee who engaged with the shooter, which is to say he attempted to disarm the shooter and attacked this person, and we believe he prevented further deaths in addition to the quick police response.”
According to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, the gunman has been identified as 20-year-old, Ethan Blair Miller. A rifle and shotgun were found close to the gunman’s body.
Krantz went on to say, “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We know this is frightening for our community and something we would never want to happen in our city,” Krantz continued promising that police are “following up on every lead.”
CNN reported that plans for the attack were posted to a blogging site. Police are looking further into the matter.
