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An Army veteran working at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, died attempting to disarm a gunman who shot and killed two people inside the store on Sunday.
Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, had time to escape the shooting, but he instead confronted the gunman, armed with his produce knife — an action that cost him his life but likely saved others, according to authorities.
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“Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident,” Bend Police Department spokeswoman Sheila Miller said on Monday, adding that Surrett “may very well have prevented further deaths.”
The shooting occurred at the Forum Shopping Center in Bend, Oregon, at about 7 p.m. local time on Sunday. Police said Ethan Blair Miller, 20, began his rampage as soon as he left his apartment, located behind the shopping center, by firing bullets at his own car. Miller then fired more shots in the shopping center’s parking lot before continuing his shooting spree inside the Safeway.
Surrett and 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett were shot and killed inside the store before Miller turned the gun on himself.
The gunman, armed with an “AR-15-style rifle” and a shotgun, according to police, was “spraying shots” through the aisles of the grocery store before being confronted by Surrett in the produce section.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commended the 20-year Army veteran’s actions on Monday.
“While we are still gathering the facts about last night’s shooting, it’s clear that far more people could have been killed if not for the heroism of Donald Ray Surrett, Jr., who intervened to help stop the shooter, and the officers who entered while shots were still being fired,” the Democratic governor wrote in a post on Facebook.
“In the face of senseless violence, they acted with selfless bravery,” Brown added. “Their courage saved lives.”
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Police have not released a motive for the shooting and are in the process of investigating ties the gunman may have had to the Safeway store and an online manifesto that may belong to the shooter.
“We have no evidence of previous threats or prior knowledge of the shooter. We received information about the shooter’s writings after the incident had taken place. And the shooter has no criminal history in the area,” Sheila Miller said.
