We have an active shooter. We have an after shoot. It's go ahead
to clear. That's a mass casualty. Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast
that covers the whys, the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and
mass casualty events. I have an active shooter in a building. A checking
call as our big attack. We got Chuck Flier at four fifteen as broaching
ninety one sounded like, Oh I'm at a fire. Active shooter coorts of
an active shooter, active shooter, active shooter in mash casualty incidents. Thank
you for listening. You are listening to Active Shooter, a podcast that may
contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions of violence. Portions of
this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen. Listener discretion is advised.
Tragedy and Ben after a shooting spree at a shopping center. Just after seven
o'clock last night, a gunman opened fire at the Forum shopping center, killing
two people at a Safeway grocery store and injuring two others. Please say this
shooting spree lasted only a matter of minutes, but being on the ground here
in Ben tonight, you can see the impact on this community will last a
long while. Now we are learning the identities of the two victims killed in
the shooting. They are eighty five year old Glenn Edward Bennett, a customer
at Safeway, and a sixty six year old Safeway employee named Donald Surrett Junior.
The common themes we seem to hear over and over again when covering mass
shooting cases are statements such as, they seemed like someone who would commit a
shooting, their mental health took a serious decline recently, they suddenly became paranoid,
or they suddenly became extreme, and of course, most commonly, the
guns were purchased legally. Indeed, most of those themes will appear throughout the
case we are covering today. The shooter was clearly suffering from some sort of
mental health crisis and had been for some time. He was violent and liked
to pick fights, starting at an early age. The shooter displayed so many
of the obvious traits that we've come to associate with active shooters. So why
was he able to access firearms? And why was he able to carry out
such a deadly act when others foresaw him doing that very thing? Why if
mass shooters are so much easier to identify. Are we still no better off
today than decades ago? The questions I just asked will not be answered in
today's episode, but they are topics we should all be to discussing and making
real efforts to resolve. Today's case is dedicated to the lives and memories of
the two injured survivors and the two deceased victims, Donald Ray Surrett Junior and
Glenn Edward Bennett. Active Shooter the podcast is a High five Holly production,
and I'm your host JT. If you've listened to our prior episodes, you
know that the Active Shooter podcast team has taken the no notoriety pledge and we
will not be sharing the real name of the shooters that we cover. We
will be giving the shooters a pseudonym and refer to them by that name throughout
the episode. This will help in clearing up any confusion in the story.
While remaining true to our pledge and not naming the shooter by their actual name.
We will refer to today's shooter as Ben. Sunday, August twenty eighth,
twenty twenty two, was a hot, sunny summer day in Bend,
Oregon. Bend with an average of three hundred sunny days each year. It's
not a typical for a summer day to be clear and bright from sun up
to sundown. Bend, Oregon is an eclectic city located about one hundred and
sixty miles southeast of Portland. The city boasts a population of one hundred and
three thousand full time residents and is loaded with things to do, including camping,
cycling, guided tours, and brewery tours, just to name a few.
The Dashute River runs through the heart of the city, which sits along
the boundary of the Eastern Cascades, slopes and foothills. Its breath takingly beautiful
and serene, which presents a horrifically stark contrast to the forbidding tragedy that was
to unfold in this charming Pacific Northwest city, a loss that this community was
not prepared for. At seven p m. Sunday evening, twenty year old
Ben exited his apartment located at the Fox Hollow Apartment Building. He carried a
five fifty six Nato Radical Firearms r F fifteen semi automatic rifle and a twelve
gage Stephens Model three twenty pump action shotgun. As he walked towards his truck,
rather than getting inside to drive away, Ben shot at the nineteen ninety
seven Ford F one fifty before turning back to walk through the parking lot towards
the Forum Shopping Center located in front of the apartment complex and parking lot.
As he approached the Costco, Ben fired into the store's parking lot. The
sight of Ben likely presented a sinister image as he walked with a swift gait
through, carrying firearms and wearing a black T shirt with the word hurt in
big bold letters stretched across the front. He also wore black pants, a
tactical vest, and a green satchel filled with ammunition, which was slung around
his waist. Four minutes after leaving his apartment, Ben entered the parking lot
of the Forum Shopping Center from the rear alley of the shopping center that bordered
the apartment complex. There were a number of stores located within the shopping center,
including retail giants such as Old Navy, Big Lots and Barnes and Noble,
and major grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Safeway. As he walked
through the parking lot. Ben shot into the Big Lots store that sat just
next to the safeway. He also turned and shot into the parking lot at
a parked van. There was a stack of hot tubs sitting outside of a
store, which Ben shot at a lot along with a Honda Civic that was
slowly driving past. He fired with abandon and didn't appear to have any specific
target in mind. He simply wanted to kill and it didn't seem to matter
who was in the line of fire. The Honda Civis owner was cruising along
minding their own business when a man dressed in black suddenly started shooting at them.
Glass from the windshields shattered into the moving vehicle, and the driver was
stuck with both the falling glass and pieces of shrapnel from bullets piercing through the
passenger side door, as was later evidenced by bullet holes that riddled the door
in windshield. Police later indicated that if there had been anyone in the passenger
seat, they surely would not have survived the shooting. Ben approached the west
entrance of the safeway and encountered customer Glenn Bennett. Ben started shooting at Glenn
and several other customers who were able to flee from the scene. Glenn wasn't
as fortunate. He was shot and fell to the ground. I was in
Safeway with my four children and my wife was in the car. She wasn't
feeling well, so she was sitting out front in the car, and we
were walking toward the front of the store and I heard what I am guessing
is sixty seven shots going off outside outside the store, and I just turned
to my kids. I knew what it was right away. I see a
few of the customers turned back to try to assist Glenn, who was shot
in his right arm, left thigh, and groin. He was rushed to
the hospital and later succumbed to many injuries. Eighty four year old Glenn Edward
Bennett was born on September eighth, nineteen thirty seven, in Gillette, Wyoming.
He proudly served his country fighting in Korea. Though he was a soldier,
Glenn was known as a compassioned man who left a lasting impact on most
that he met. He had lived in Bend, Oregon for twenty eight years
leading up to death, and was incredibly passionate about old cars and was described
as a huge movie buff Ben proceeded into the store, shouting loudly, you
better run. He stalked the aisleways, shooting down each as he wandered the
store from one end to the other. The sight of a man walking anywhere
with a firearm drawn is enough to cause panic and alarm, so the paralyzing
sight of Ben must have been downright spine shilling as he carried the rifle in
one hand and the shotgun in the other. Shooting with complete abandon, Ben
fired into the glass cases in the meat department and ambled along toward the produce
section. Shoppers ran for their lives. Some hid behind anything large enough to
conceal their form, while others gathered their courage and strength to fight back.
One such patron, Molly, was shopping with her husband when they heard the
shooting. Molly drew her own handgun from her purse, while her husband ran
out the front door to retrieve his own firearm from their car. People were
screaming, some the blood curdling screams of one who was suffering from a great
deal of pain or fear, while others were yelling to run and active shooter.
When Ben finally made his way to the produce section. A Safeway employee
named Donald was also ready to fight back. He was either going to stop
the shooter or he was going to die trying. Donald did both. He
grabbed a produce knife, clutching the green handle as he stealthily stepped just behind
a produce cart. As Ben approached and peered away from Donald, Donald sprang
into action, stabbing Ben while simultaneously trying to disarm him. Unfortunately, Ben
managed to gain control of his weapons and shot and killed Donald. Sir engaged
with the shooter, attempted to disarm him, and may very well have prevented
further deaths. Mister Syrett acted heroically during this terrible incident. Sixty six year
old Donald, called Don Ray Surrett, Junior, died a hero. His
actions very likely saved many other lives and most certainly stalled the shooter as first
responders raced to the scene. The twenty year old Army vet was born on
December sixteenth, nineteen fifty five, and had served as a combat engineer.
Although Don wasn't deployed into an active combat zone, he was stationed in Germany
three separate times and lived on various military bases across the United States. Dawn
worked in the Visitor Information in Interpretive services, in Operations and maintenance divisions for
the United States Forest Services. He worked in the ben Fort Rock Ranger District
for the Forest Services over six different seasons from twenty twelve to twenty seventeen.
Dawn was described as big hearted and a devoted husband to wife Jacqueline. He
was an active member of the Lepine Seventh day Adventist Church as well as the
Disabled American Vets Chapter fourteen Adjutant and Treasurer. Donn is survived by three children,
seven grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. A GoFundMe was established in his
honor, and it raised nearly one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, which is
a testament to how many lives Don touched. At seven oh eight pm,
only minutes after Ben initially shot into his own truck, Ben leaned back against
the same product cart that Don hid behind moments earlier. He drew the shotgun
up towards his lap, and he completed suicide. Police were already on the
scene by that point and entered the store both through the front and rear entrances.
A Ben police officer made his way to the produced department, where he
saw Ben sitting on the ground. Blood was quickly pulling around him, and
it was evident that he was deceased. The officer withdrew the firearm from Ben's
lap. Ben's hand was draped over the weapon and both were drenched in blood.
The officer moved the gun to safety as a precaution, and then returned
to his fellow officers to assist in clearing the scene. Not a single Bend
police officer fired a shot. This is specifically mentioned to give context to the
massive amount of shots that Ben fired. It was over one hundred rounds in
all, between his own truck, the parking lots, the big lots,
and of course, the safeway. The entire shooting lasted eight minutes, making
it an average of twelve and a half bullets fired per minute. Police continued
to clear the safeway, locating people hiding in the restrooms and store cooler,
and escorted the shaken customers and employees from the store. A search of Ben's
apartment and truck produced a sawed off shotgun and three molotov cocktails. Out of
an abundance of caution, the bomb squad was called in to search the apartment
and the Safeway, both of which were deemed Subsequent investigation determined that Ben was
previously employed by the Safeway grocery store. Ben's mother was a Safeway employee,
working, according to her Facebook profile, as a quote personnel coordinator. What
isn't clear is whether they were employed there at the same time, or,
more importantly, the significance of the Safeway store or why it was chosen as
the shooting site. Ben purchased the ammunition a day prior to the shooting,
and there were several boxes of ammo located back in Ben's apartment, along with
the boxes for the firearms used in the shooting, purchased legally, and several
cell phones. Search warrants were obtained for all electronic devices, and police collected
nearly one hundred and seventy five pieces of evidence, ninety video clips, and
several sets of photographs. Investigators interviewed over eighty people while surveillance was obtained from
as many local businesses as possible. There was surveillance video from the Big Lots
which depicts multiple shoppers clearly running for safety while others were standing by the windows
pointing into the parking lot. Seconds later, those same people in front of
the window could be seen turning and running as the glass from the window exploded
into millions of tiny shards that fell to the floor. Initially, there were
reports of two shooters, though it was promptly determined that Ben acted alone.
Ben was born on October thirty one, two thousand and one. He graduated
from Mountain View High School in twenty twenty. His high school years were fraught
with anxiety and anger. He often got into fights, although Ben would describe
himself as one who suffered from isolation and loneliness, which was a direct result
of the COVID nineteen pandemic. Ben's initial plans were to attack his former high
school on the first day of class. However, according to evidence police located
later, Ben couldn't wait any longer. He needed to carry out his murder
plan because quote the rage has become uncontrollable. A former classmate claimed that Ben
was extremely aggressive and didn't have many friends as a result. Another classmate claimed
that as a freshman, they were suspended for a week after fighting with Ben.
The classmate thought that Ben always held a grudge after that, and in
fact, during one encounter between the two after high school, Ben was working
at the Safeway and was in the parking lot collecting shopping carts when he came
across the classmate, whom Ben instantly recognized. Ben approached and threatened the classmate,
who knew enough to take the threat seriously. Yet another classmate, a
Keela Havrlant, claimed that Ben wasn't well liked because of his attitude towards others,
and further explained that he was mean and awkward, but it was how
uncomfortable he made his female classmates feel that stuck with a kale of the most.
So many students described Ben as the kid who was most likely to turn
into a school shooter. The signs were there and clear to almost anyone who
took the time to look. Perhaps it's time that we really start listening when
this becomes the mantra about a person. Ben was fascinated with MMA, or
mixed martial arts, and even trained at a local gym called Danzig Mma.
The pandemic shuddered all gyms, and Ben never started back up when everything reopened.
He had no criminal history and not even a record of any sort of
contact with law enforcement. He most certainly was never on their radar. Perhaps
the single most important, perhaps even the only insight into Ben's state of mind
or why the rage burned so deeply within him, came from his manifesto.
The fifty six page docs document detailed Ben's utter hatred of the government, the
COVID lockdowns, women technology, and many other rants. He described his desire
to kill a harm, and the writing read like a diary that Ben appeared
to have been keeping for about two months before the shooting. The manifesto shows
a very clear decline in Ben's mental health, and he discussed his precise plans
for a school shooting Columbine style. Ben likened himself to an introvert who had
anger issues, and he frequently talked about how dangerous he was. Most chillingly,
Ben preemptively blamed family members for the shooting, claiming that they drove him
to want to murder innocent people, though he never really seems to explain how
they did so. There are several excerpts from Ben's manifesto that, while disturbing,
bring you our listeners into the mind of pure evil. Some of these
excerpts will be read here for you now. Regarding the COVID lockdowns, he
said, quote, I still haven't been able to pull myself out of that
state. Despite numerous attempts at getting back into Mma, which I still love
so dearly and always will, despite numerous jobs, despite numerous attempts at finding
love once again, despite numerous attempts at being social and trying to make new
friendships, they have all proved futile. The first page of the manifest reads,
in part quote, if you're reading this, then I'm definitely dead and
have just committed a national tragedy. I've left this journal for all the investigators,
media, internet salutes, etc. But most importantly, this is for
the very few people that I actually care about and want to understand why and
how this happened so that they can be at peace. I'm going to lay
it all out for you so that by the end of all of this you
you will understand why I did what I did. What you'll see here is
the documentation and description of the months, weeks, days from today up until
the massacre, and he said, quote, this shooting is going to be
a bit different. I'm not like the typical mass shooter. I'm different.
I'm not doing this for fame or to get revenge. I simply want to
die and leave a lasting impression and violent mark on this world on my way
out. My life could have been different, but because of the mistakes and
choices I've made, it led me here. I'm not exactly upset with it,
though, I will find peace on the other side. A week before
the shooting, Ben wrote the following quote, rage, I just keep building
it up, keep piling it on. I need it, I need it
more. Depression is as old bitch and gets in the way of my motivation.
Life fucking sucks. I know that. I'm aware, too, aware.
It's one hundred percent reel now it's sunk in and I'm ready. I'm
ready to just stop thinking, to get on with it and move on.
I hope. I fucking scare you fuckers. God the media is gonna be
so pathetic. Mountain View. Fuck that school. No good memories about that
school or the staff within it. Shock and awe. That's what I'm going
for. This cess pit town has been growing more and more environment over the
last few years, but nothing like this, not even close. I'm going
to shape this place to its fucking core. Ben wrapped up his manifesto with
the following quote, you guys are all so shocked and appalled. I'm picture
during it now. I've always been dangerous, so look at ticking fucking time
bomb reddic blow. About two weeks after the shooting, the Safeway reopened to
the general public. Each shelf was neatly stalked, merchandise lined up in a
uniform manner, and sparkling clean. The pharmacy gleamed with a new coat of
paint, and the entire store beckoned customers to come back in and shop.
For added safety, the store instituted a security guard, fully equipped with a
bulletproof vest, just outside of the store. We all have the unique ability
to help prevent such a catastrophic event from happening if we keep our eyes and
ears open and never hesitate to report when something or someone just doesn't seem right.
With a delicate balance of mental health reform, education, active shooter training,
and common sense gun laws, we may one day realize the dream,
the dream that there will be no more active shootings. We pray that love
will prevail over hate. Too many have died, we should say to ourselves,
not one more. In the meantime, we urge our listeners to stay
aware of your surroundings and keep in touch with your loved ones. If you
see something, say something, you never know how many lives you'll be saving.
Thank you for listening to today's episode of Active Shooter the Podcast. Remember,
if you see something, say something, there's no telling how many lives
you may be saving. A big thank you to Darren Curtis, who composed
some of the songs on our show. You can find him online at www
dot Curtis music dot com. Make sure to check us out on social media.
You can find us on Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast and on Twitter
at podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.