ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Students embraced, held hands and wiped away tears Monday as they returned to an Oregon community college for the first time since a gunman killed eight students and a teacher.
Classes do not resume until next week, but some students came to Umpua Community College to pick up belongings they left behind when they fled the shooting Thursday. Others met with professional groups to discuss their trauma and grief.
A memorial was growing on the driveway leading to Snyder Hall, where 26-year-old Christopher Harper-Mercer executed nine people inside a classroom and wounded nine others. He killed himself after a shootout with police.
"It was hard not to focus on Snyder Hall," student Joel Mitchell said. "When we got back, I think a lot of people were probably ... looking at it, checking it out, seeing what it looked like."
A group of eight held hands and bowed their heads in prayer in front of the building. Elsewhere, clusters of people chatted at picnic tables or near buildings.
In a courtyard near the center of campus, a therapy dog sat on a blanket with its handler. A woman, crouched down, wiped away a tear.
At least one student injured in the shooting was among those who returned Monday, college President Rita Cavin said. She did not identify the student.
Reporters were barred from campus but taken on a brief tour. School officials designated an outdoor amphitheater as a makeshift memorial, open only to staff and students for now. Flowers and balloons were positioned on tables, and markers were available for people to write messages on a banner that says, "UCC Strong."
"I needed to be here," student Madysen Sanchez said. "I needed to come and see my friends, make sure they're OK."
Chaplains who had been on campus said they were both helping with and participating in the healing process.
"I'm going through the grieving process myself because this has touched everyone in the community," chaplain Russell Wilson said. "If you don't know someone that goes here, you know someone that knows someone."
National on 10/06/2015