Oregon shooting motive sought; What we know on Detroit, Houston – USA TODAY

Authorities in Bend Oregon identified the gunman who killed two people inside a Safeway supermarket before taking his own life.

The deadly shooting was one of three in the U.S. over the weekend.

Police identified the gunman as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, who died by suicide in the shooting, a spokesperson for the Bend Police Department said at a press conference Monday. Police are still investigating a motive.

On Sunday night, Miller fired shots inside a central Oregon grocery store about 160 miles southeast of Portland, killing two people –  a customer and an employee – and injuring two others.

Meanwhile, three other shootings across the U.S. left eight people dead:

• In Houston: Shortly after midnight Sunday, a man set an apartment building on fire man and shot five residents who were fleeing the blaze. Three people died, and the gunman was fatally shot by police.
• In Detroit: Four people were shot hours later by a man police believe to have randomly targeted victims over a 2 ½-hour period. Three people died; a suspect was arrested.
• In Phoenix: A man with a semi-automatic rifle killed two people and injured five others, including two police officers, in what investigators believed to be a random attack Sunday night.

Here’s what we know about the fatal shootings.

How did chaos unfold at Safeway in Bend?

A man began firing shots in the parking lot of the Forum Shopping Center, in northeast Bend, around 7 p.m. Sunday, police said in a statement. The man entered Safeway’s west entrance and shot one person, who died on the way to a hospital. The gunman continued firing through the store, fatally shooting another victim.

Two more people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police say.

Police identified the victims as Glenn Edward Bennett, an 84-year-old Bend resident and customer at the Safeway; and Safeway employee Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, also of Bend, Oregon.

Surrett attempted to disarm the shooter as the man walked through the store, and “acted heroically during this terrible incident,” likely preventing further deaths, police said Monday afternoon.

Josh Caba told local TV station KTVZ that he was with his four children when he heard multiple shots as he shopped. 

“I immediately turned to my children and said, ‘Run!’ People were screaming,” Caba told the news outlet. “It was a horrifying experience.”

Molly Taroli, 40, told local newspaper The Bulletin that she and her husband were shopping for dinner when the shooter sprayed shots through the store. Taroli said she took her own handgun from her purse, and that employees yelled “go, go, go!” as they tried to help people escape, Taroli told The Bulletin.

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What do we know about the Safeway shooter?

Bend Police chief Mike Krantz said police immediately entered Safeway as shots were being fired. Police not fire their weapons at the scene, he said. 

Officers found the shooter dead near an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun. Police did not say how the gunman died, and he has not been identified.

A search of the gunman’s vehicle found three Molotov cocktails, a sawed-off shotgun, additional ammunition and “digital devices,” according to police. He had no criminal history in the area and it’s unclear how he obtained the firearms.

Statements from the shooter led police to request the Oregon State Police bomb squad, who cleared the Safeway and the shooter’s apartment, according to authorities.

Police are investigating whether the gunman may have posted online prior to the shooting; they said they had found no evidence of previous threats by the shooter.

Detroit: 3 dead in shooting spree, suspect arrested

In Detroit, three people were killed and a man was injured in a shooting spree early Sunday. Following an hourslong search Sunday, authorities arrested a man believed to be involved in the random shootings that began around 4:45 a.m.

The victims were a 40-year-old woman, a 28-year-old man and another woman in her 40s, according to authorities. A 76-year-old man survived. Detroit Police Chief James White said tips led officers to the suspect. Investigators traced the shootings to the same firearm.

Houston: Man sets fire in apartment building, kills 3

In southwest Houston, authorities fatally shot a man Sunday who set an apartment building ablaze and shot five fleeing tenants.

The attack occurred around 1 a.m. Sunday. The gunman had been evicted from the apartment, and police believe he used a shotgun to kill two people at the scene. Another victim died in a hospital. Two men were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Houston Chief Troy Finner said. No firefighters or officers were hurt, he said.

Phoenix: 2 dead, 2 officers hospitalized 

In Phoenix, a man armed with a semi-automatic rifle fatally shot two people in a seemingly random attack Sunday night. Two officers were among five others injured, Phoenix police said in a statement Monday.

Nearby surveillance video showed the gunman leaving a motel room and shooting at random, the statement said. The shooter was seen firing into the motel before shooting into a car coming into the parking lot.

He fired shots at police arriving at the scene, authorities said. Surveillance footage showed him falling to the ground, and police say it appeared the gunman may have taken his own life.

Contributing: Sara Raza, Detroit Free Press; The Associated Press