Chris Harper-Mercer named as 26-year-old Oregon college gunman

At least 10 people were killed - the gunman among them - and many injured

Officials have said the gunman was killed in a shoot-out with police

Law enforcement officials have identified the man suspected of opening fire at a community college in Oregon as Chris Harper Mercer, and said he had three weapons, at least one of them a long gun and the other ones handguns. It was not clear whether he fired them all, local media said.

The officials said the man lived in the Roseburg area, the New York Times reported. Police said the shooter was killed in an exchange of fire with police.

They said one witness told them that he asked about people’s religions before he began firing. “He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate,” one law enforcement official said.

The 26-year-old demanded that his victims lay on the ground and then made them stand up one at a time and state their religion before opening fire according to one traumatised eyewitness.

Kortney Moore said she was in her writing class when a bullet went through the window hitting her teacher in the head. Soon after, the shooter was inside the room demanding to know the religion of her fellow students.

The 18-year-old laid on the ground next to some of the victims shot by the gunman but managed to make it out alive.

State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and other officials said 13 people were dead earlier in the day though that number may have been too high.

“At this time, we are reporting and can confirm 10 fatalities in the shooting,” Douglas County sheriff's deputies, Sheriff John Hanlin said Wednesday evening.