Ethan Miller, the gunman who shot two people dead with an AR-15 on Sunday, kept a two-month long online diary chronicling the decline of his mental health
The 20-year-old gunman who walked into a grocery store in Oregon and shot two people dead with an AR-15 kept a two-month long countdown chronicling the decline of his mental health in which he decried America as a ‘fake’ land of the free and outlined his plans for a massacre similar to the 1999 Columbine school shooting.
Ethan Miller, a former student of Mountain View High School in Bend, Oregon, was found dead in the store by authorities having committed suicide in the aftermath of his August 28 attack in a Safeway at the Forum Shopping Center.
Clutching a rifle, a shotgun and carrying two duffel bags of ammunition, Miller sprayed bullets from his weapon in the parking lot before entering the building and shooting dead Safeway employee Don Surrett, 66, a US Army veteran, and Glen Bennett, 84, a customer who happened to be at the store.
But just hours before carrying out the heinous crime, Miller published an extensive online diary complete with a two-month timeline leading up to the attack, an explanation of his plan and motivations, and a gallery containing selfies and images of the weapons.
He revealed his actions were inspired by the infamous Columbine school shooting, railed against American society, and described himself as a loner who would never find a woman as perfect as his imagined ‘soulmate’ – though insisted he ‘did not have anything specifically against women’ and was not an ‘incel.’
Authorities said that in the aftermath of the shooting, they recovered an AR-15 and a shotgun from the scene. Miller posted photos of similar weapons on his Wattpad page
One of the images posted on Miller’s Wattpad diary page showed his ammunition
Miller earmarked September 8, 2022 as ‘Doomsday’ and had intended to shoot up his former high school, but the final pages of his diary showed he was overcome by rage and decided to carry out the attack more than a week early in a grocery store.
He wrote in a section around this time that July 4 was ‘meaningless as there is NO FREEDOM left in this country.’ Miller said he felt the illusion of ‘freedom’ was created by ‘power hungry politicians.’
In describing his school, Miller said he was the ‘Quiet Kid with Anger Issues,’ before adding: ‘I’ve always been dangerous though.’ He wrote of Mountain View: ‘No good memories about that school or the staff within it.’
The contents of his diary explained in great detail his plans and the weapons used in the attack, while social media posts from Miller’s former classmates expressed shock and disbelief he released the diary online the same day a mass shooting occurred in his home town.
Authorities meanwhile claimed they ‘had no evidence of previous threats or prior knowledge of the shooter’ and confirmed Miller did not have a criminal record.
Miller regularly wrote about his belief that American was not a free country and spoke excitedly about his plans to conduct a mass shooting
Miller earmarked September 8, 2022 as ‘Doomsday’ and had intended to shoot up his former high school
While a student at Mountain View High School, ‘tried to fight quite literally everybody’ at the school, former classmate Isaac Thomas told The Associated Press
The first entry in the diary was written almost two months to the day prior to the fatal shooting, and Miller immediately makes it clear he intends to leave a detailed explanation of how and why he carried out the attack.
‘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 Sleuths 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.’
Miller claims his downward mental spiral began as a result of the Covid pandemic and strict lockdown regulations which saw people confined to their homes for long periods of time.
He accused the government of creating ‘mass hysteria’, before writing he was unable ‘to pull myself out of that state’ and said attempts to meet people, earn work and make friendships had all been ‘futile’.
By mid-July, the shooter began opening up about his dysfunctional family relationship, alleging his family members are at least in part responsible for driving him to shoot innocent people.
He also started talking about his ‘soulmate’ – a fantasy woman Miller claimed he would only meet in the afterlife.
‘I’ve always wanted LOVE that’s all I ever wanted in this life and I’m just not gonna find it here… I just wanna be at Peace with HER. My soulmate. She doesn’t exist here I have to cross over to the other side to finally meet her.’
The rest of Miller’s entries for July became increasingly violent, expressing his eagerness to ‘blow people’s f***ing heads off’ and describing himself as a ‘disturbed animal’.
Miller’s posts quickly escalated from August 17 to take the form of an angry and violent stream of consciousness.
After declaring that he had reached ‘True and Utter Insanity’, the shooter rapidly descended into graphic descriptions of his desire to murder people and see them torn apart.
He also reflected on his impending death, explaining his intention to commit suicide following the attack, and lamented the human body’s ‘pathetic survival instincts’, claiming he now ‘looks Death in the face daily and Welcome it’s Embrace’, before concluding he is now ‘at peace with the Monster I have become’.
In his final entry, which encapsulated the depths of his loneliness and the extent of his fantasies, Miller referred to himself in the third person as ‘The Man’ – something which he repeated at regular intervals throughout the diary – and claimed he is completely at peace and is excited to meet his ‘soulmate’.
‘The Man has found Peace. He is ready to move on to His New Life. With Her…’ ‘She’s perfect. Like She was Made For Him as He Is For Her. The Man has come to terms and is Ready to Be With Her Now and To Move Onto His New Life.’
While a student at Mountain View High School, ‘tried to fight quite literally everybody’ at the school, former classmate Isaac Thomas said. Thomas said the gunman once threatened to shoot him after a fight at their school.
Akela Haverlandt, 21, told the Oregonian she shared math and gym classes with the gunman. Haverlandt told the newspaper on one occasion she left class to find Miller ‘violently beating’ a student in the hallway.
Haverlandt said: ‘He was always the talk of the week for getting into trouble.’ She went on: ‘Basically what I remember of him is he was super violent. He would always get suspended’ for fighting and was constantly ‘causing chaos.’
Out of the blue, Haverlandt said that Miller began texting her on Instagram and indicated that he wanted to start a romantic relationship with her.
In one message, Miller called Haverlandt ‘hella beautiful.’ She said that she ended the conversation shortly afterwards.
Haverlandt also said that Miller was friends with Keenan Harpole, the Portland State University football star who is accused of shooting his girlfriend, Amara Marluke, dead close to the school’s campus.
Harpole, 20, is facing charges of 2nd degree murder, domestic violence and unlawful use of a weapon in relation to the incident.
Pictured: Keenan Harpole, a friend of Miller’s, appears in court April after he was charged with 2nd-degree murder, domestic violence and unlawful use of a weapon
Amara Marluke was fatally shot in April in downtown Portland, near the university’s campus. She died of gunshot wounds at around 1 a.m., police said
Authorities sought a search warrant for digital devices found at Miller’s apartment, located just behind the Forum Shopping Center where he carried out the shooting, and it will take several days to go through those materials and develop a clearer picture, said Police Chief Mike Krantz.
‘We have that information. A lot of people sent us follow-up information about what has been posted on social media or other outlets and our investigators will sift through that information and make those connections – if it’s truly connected – and ensure that we have accurate information,’ he said.
Federal officials were also trying to determine where the gunman got the AR-15-style weapon and shotgun he brought into the store, whether the guns were obtained legally and why he chose the supermarket for his deadly rampage.
They found three Molotov cocktails in his car along with a sawed-off shotgun and more ammunition in his apartment, said Bend police spokeswoman Sheila Miller, who is not related to the shooter.
Former classmate Thomas said the shooter had worked at the Safeway and that the pair had crossed paths there two years ago.
Authorities later found three Molotov cocktails and a sawed-off shotgun in the shooter’s car
Bend police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine where the suspect got his weapons and if he did so legally, Miller said
The Forum Shopping Center in Bend, Ore. remained closed Monday, Aug. 29, 2022 as police investigated a shooting at the Safeway there that left two people and the suspected gunman dead Sunday night
Miller’s mother also worked at the store as a personnel coordinator, according to Heavy.com. On her Facebook description, his mother, Gail, wrote: ‘She forgave, but she won’t forget. She’s moving on to better things. NO REGRETS JUST LESSONS LEARNED.’
In one diary entry, Miller claimed a dysfunctional relationship with his family had contributed to his downward spiral.
‘My Family LOVES Drama they are always so damn dramatic over the smallest things… they would always find someone to blame and punish for [accidents].
‘Everyone Else is Right and I’m Wrong… my side of the story was ALWAYS F***ING IGNORED! I still love my Family unconditionally despite their flaws but they definitely played a bit of a role in me becoming this way.’
Witnesses said he began shooting Sunday evening as soon as he left the complex and continued firing as he entered the shopping complex’s parking lot and then went into the Safeway.
Bend is a city of about 97,000 approximately 160 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon.