Bend shooting: Safeway employee ‘attacked the suspect with a produce knife he kept on his hip,’ police say

The 20-year-old gunman accused of opening fire at a Safeway on Sunday evening in Bend, Oregon, killing two people before turning the gun on himself, was a former employee at the store and bought the three guns he owned legally, the Bend Police Department said Tuesday. 

Video of the shooting reviewed by police also sheds light on the actions of 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett, Jr., an Army veteran who police hailed as a hero for giving his own life by confronting the gunman. 

“Video surveillance shows that upon hearing gunshots in the Safeway, victim Donald Surrett, Jr., had ample time to flee the scene but instead moved a produce cart into position to hide from the attacker,” the Bend Police Department said in an update Tuesday. 

“When the suspect approached, Surrett waited for the suspect to look away, then attacked the suspect with a produce knife he kept on his hip.” 

Surrett was never deployed to active combat zones but served in the Army for two decades as a combat engineer, his ex-wife told the Associated Press. 

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The suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the produce section at 7:08 p.m., four minutes after he entered the store and started “spraying shots” in the aisles. 

One customer, 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett, was shot and killed near the store’s entrance. 

“Video surveillance shows two community members who, upon seeing Glenn Bennett injured on the floor near the Safeway entrance, re-entered the store and pulled Bennett out of the building, where he was attended to by medics and officers,” Bend police said. 

Miller worked at the store “for a short time,” police said Tuesday. He lived in an apartment complex behind the Safeway and fired shots into his vehicle, a 1997 Ford F-250, before walking to the shopping complex. 

More than 100 shell casings have been recovered between the apartment complex and the shopping center, police said. 

Miller purchased all three guns he owned legally, including the AR-15 style rifle and shotgun that were recovered at the scene.