President Obama Visits Roseburg Today

Friday, October 09, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama will visit with families of the victims of last week's shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg today. The White House said the President's visit will focus on bringing comfort and sympathy to grieving families, rather than on the need for new gun control legislation.

There were shootings at two more college campuses on Friday. A gunman is in custody after killing one and wounding three at Northern Arizona University, and another possible suspect has been arrested for a shooting at Texas which killed one person and wounded another.

In the hours after the shooting at Umpqua Community College, Obama called for new legislation to restrict the availability of firearms. Obama said the shootings were “something we should politicize,” drawing ire from many in Roseburg, a town with a high rate of firearm ownership.

More than 8,000 people signed up for an anti-Obama rally on a Facebook page called "Defend Roseburg", designed to convince the President no to visit the town.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said residents and gun advocates "have nothing to fear," about the President's visit.

“The President has made clear that the goal of his visit is to spend time with the families of those who are so deeply affected by this terrible tragedy,” Earnest said.

Governor Kate Brown will accompany Obama as he visits victims' families, but neither is expected to speak publicly.

Related Slideshow: The Victims of the Umpqua Community College Shooting

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Rebecka Ann Carnes

Rebecka Carnes, an 18-year-old freshman at Umpqua Community College was killed in Thursday's shooting, according to a Facebook post from her cousin, Lisa Crawford.

"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have watched Becka grow up," she wrote. "She had just started a new job and college classes. This isn't how life is supposed to work and I am struggling to wrap my mind around the entire situation."

Photo: Rebecka Carnes photo via Facebook

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Lucero Alcaraz

Lucero Alcaraz was killed at the age of 19 in the Umpqua Community College shooting. Alcaraz hoped to become a pediatric nurse, according to a Facebook post from her sister.

Photo: Rebecka Carnes, center, via Facebook

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Jason Dale Johnson

Jason Johnson was killed during the Umpqua Community College shooting at the age of 33. He was in class when he was killed and had just started school on Monday, according to his mother, who confirmed his death to NBC News.

Photo: Jason Johnson via Facebook

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Lucas Eibel

Lucas Eibel, 18, was killed in the Umpqua Community College shooting on Thursday. He was a quadruplet, with two sisters, according to his brother Mitchell, who confirmed Lucas' death to CNN.

Photo: Lucas Eibel, far left in the black shirt, via Facebook

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Kim Saltmarsh Dietz

Kim Dietz was killed in the shooting at Umpqua Community College, according to a Facebook post from her husband, Eric. Dietz' daughter is also a student at the school, but was unharmed in the shooting, according to Dietz' mother-in-law.

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Quinn Glen Cooper

Quin Cooper, 18, was killed in Thursday's shooting at Umpqua Community College. His father, Cody, established a GoFundMe page in his memory.

"Quinn is everything and he was loved by everyone," Cody wrote on the GoFundMe page. "He will be missed greatly by many, many people please remember him for his fun and witty nature and all of the fun he had with everyone."

Photo: Quinn Cooper via GoFundMe