Survivor: Gunman spared ‘lucky one’ to give police message

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The 26-year-old killer who gunned down classmates at an Oregon college spared a student and gave the “lucky one” something to deliver to authorities, according to the mother of a student who witnessed the rampage.

Others weren’t as fortunate. Parents of students in the classroom said the gunman shot one after saying he could save his life by begging. Others were killed after being told to crawl across the floor.

Shooter Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer later killed himself as officers arrived, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Saturday.

Authorities have not disclosed whether they have an envelope or package from Harper-Mercer. However, a law enforcement official said a manifesto of several pages had been recovered.

Bonnie Schaan, the mother of 16-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, said she was told by her 16-year-old daughter that the gunman gave someone an envelope and told him to go to a corner of the classroom.

Harper-Mercer said the person “‘was going to be the lucky one,’” Schaan told reporters outside a hospital where her daughter’s kidney was removed after she was shot.

Pastor Randy Scroggins, whose 18-year-old daughter Lacey escaped without physical injuries, said she told him that the gunman called to a student, saying “‘don’t worry, you’re the one who is going to survive.’”

Harper-Mercer then told the student that inside the shooter’s backpack was “all the information that you’ll need, give it to the police,” Scroggins said, citing the account by his daughter.