BEND, OR -- From the Bend City Council in response to Sunday night’s shooting:
“No words can fully describe the terror and grief that our community experienced last night when a gunman opened fire at a local grocery store and took the lives of two of our community members. We mourn the loss of the victims, Glenn Edward Bennett and Donald Ray Surrett, Jr.
Surrett, a Safeway employee, potentially saved many lives as Police believe he tried to disarm the shooter, a heroic act for which we are so thankful for.
We are heartbroken for their families and friends.
We hold in our thoughts everyone who was there on Sunday night and experienced the trauma of a shooting in a place where people should feel safe getting their groceries.
We are incredibly thankful for the exceptionally swift response from the Bend Police Department and for the cooperation and collaboration of every local law enforcement agency in the area. We appreciate the community’s patience as our law enforcement professionals do their job, investigate this horrific crime, and collect accurate information before sharing it with the public.
Our community has had its sense of safety shattered by this act of violence. We must all come together to support one another as we process the wide range of emotions that we are all feeling right now. If you are struggling for any reason, please reach out the Deschutes County DA’s Victims Assistance and Deschutes County Behavioral Health. They have arranged for a community support center at Pilot Butte Middle School from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., today, Aug 29, and tomorrow, Aug. 30.
Anyone can access these free counseling services as needed by dropping in.
There are also Victims Assistance support services for those present at the scene or their next of kin. Links to can be found on the Deschutes County District Attorney’s website.
We are devastated that Bend has become the latest community to experience a mass shooting aimed at causing fear. As leaders at the local level, we pledge to do everything in our power to advocate for the policies we need as a state and a country to curb gun violence and end the epidemic of mass shootings that plagues our communities. Everyone deserves to feel safe from gun violence in our community.”
- Bend City Council
