The deranged mass shooter who killed two men in an Oregon supermarket appears to have written a disturbing online manifesto bragging about his plans to commit a “national tragedy” — initially planning a school slaughter “inspired” by Columbine.
Ethan Blair Miller, 20, was named by police Monday as the gunman who killed an 84-year-old customer as well as a heroic 66-year-old employee who tackled him as he sprayed shots through the Safeway in Bend late Sunday.
Miller — who was carrying an AR-15 and a shotgun and had weapons and bombs in his car — shot himself dead before he could be arrested, police said. He previously worked at the store, but had no known criminal record, and police said they had no evidence of prior contact with him.
However, officials confirmed they were examining disturbing information “posted on social media or other outlets” ahead of the shooting.
It later emerged that the gunman had for two months written a since-deleted online manifesto called “The Downward Spiral Of ‘Ethan Miller.'”
“If you’re reading this then I’m definitely DEAD and have just committed a ‘NATIONAL TRAGEDY,'” he opened the online rantings on June 29.
“I’m gonna lay it all out for you all so that by the end of all of this you will all understand why I did what I did.”
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In his rantings, he blamed the isolation of COVID-19 lockdowns as well as feuds with his family and frustrations at being unable to find a girlfriend.
“I am responsible for this but I was turned into a monster,” he wrote in his opening missive. “I created this Tragedy. But Society created Me.”
A day later, the one-time martial artist said he had “finally settled on a date for my last day of this hell on earth.”
“The 8th of September. A Thursday. The First Day of School for all Students at Mountain View High School. … GOD I Can’t WAIT,” he wrote of his alma mater.
“I was ‘The Quiet Kid with Anger Issues’ all throughout school so maybe it’s not as much of a surprise to some of you,” he said of the planned school shooting.
“I’ve always been dangerous though. Like a Ticking F—ING Time Bomb. Ready To Blow!” he wrote.
As he detailed his gun-buying and bomb-making preparations, Miller also ripped mass shooters who allow themselves to get arrested.
“I WANT TO DIE. … See [Eric] Harris & [Dylan] Klebold had the right idea,” he said of the cowards who slaughtered 12 children and a teacher in the 1999 Colorado school shooting.
“Yes Columbine partially inspired this. I’ve been interested in the case for a long time and it has provided the Blueprint and Part of the Inspiration for Doomsday.
“I relate to Eric and Dylan on some level as well. they were the same as me. Good young men F—ED by SOCIETY,” he wrote.
Still, in a later posting he claimed, “I’m not like the typical Mass Shooter I’m different I’m not doing this for ‘Fame’ or to ‘Get Revenge.’ I simply just want to DIE and leave a Lasting Impression and VIOLENT Mark on this World on my way out,” he wrote.
“Thankfully I won’t be here to have to deal with it.”
Other posts shared lyrics by the industrial goth band Nine Inch Nails as well as his ongoing plans for “Doomsday.”
Throughout, it was intended to be a school shooting on Sept. 8 — until he ran out of patience, he said.
“The Rage has become uncontrollable and It can’t wait 2 More Weeks,” he wrote Saturday. “Tomorrow. Sunday. August 28th 2022. Doomsday.”
Miller started firing as soon as he left his apartment complex, right up until he went inside the nearby Safeway, witnesses said.
He gunned down customer Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, at the store’s entrance before moving through the aisles “spraying shots” from the assault rifle, police said.
An employee, Army veteran Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, then “engaged with the shooter, attempted to disarm him and may very well have prevented further deaths,” a police spokesperson said.
Police entered the supermarket from the front and rear as shots were still being fired. Miller was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, four minutes after the initial 911 call, officials said.
Authorities sought a search warrant for digital devices found at the gunman’s apartment, said Police Chief Mike Krantz, confirming they “have that information” about the apparent online manifesto.
“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.
Former classmates of Miller “uniformly described him as violent, aggressive, and ‘the person from our class most likely to be a school shooter,'” Oregon Public Broadcasting news editor Ryan Haas tweeted.
The manifesto showed Miller “needed some significant help with depression and anger issues. Mental health care long before it got the point it did Sunday may have helped. He also stated he bought an AR in July. Not great if accurate,” Haas tweeted.
One former classmate, Isaac Thomas, confirmed that Miller had previously been a cart pusher at the Safeway he shot up
“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.”
He also said Miller was well known for his disturbed, violent threats.
“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,” he said.
“But I guess I was wrong.”
With Post wires
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