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New Zealand witness to US shootings distraught

Author
George Freeman,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Oct 2015, 8:27PM
Getty Images
Getty Images

New Zealand witness to US shootings distraught

Author
George Freeman,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Oct 2015, 8:27PM

A young New Zealander who witnessed a mass shooting in the US today is said to be distraught.

Former Westlake Boys High School student Jaylen Gerrand escaped unscathed .. when a gunman killed at least 10 people at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

Supercity Rangers basketball coach Jeff Green said the 20 year-old witnessed the deaths of four people.

"A guy right next to him, he didn't know who it was just got shot in the back of the head and fell to the ground, Jaylen got blood all over him from the head shot, and then he saw a girl get shot and two other guys about forty [or] fifty feet away from him."

Green said he's spoken to Gerrand and he just wants to come home.

"He's a thousand miles away from home, you know a kiwi kid from West Auckland just sitting over there with no family and support and familiar faces are what he needs right now."

He said the presence of guns in the US is deeply concerning.

"We just don't appreciate here in New Zealand the violence and the guns that are present in the US, it's unbelievable."

Police have identified the gunman as 26 year-old Chris Harper Mercer, who killed at least 10 people at "Umpqua Community College" in Oregon.

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