‘I feel sorry for him’: Shooting victim forgives gunman

Ana Boylan
Ana Boylan takes a selfie from her hospital bed on Oct. 2.

Roseburg, Ore. — (NBC News) Just moments after being released from the hospital, an 18-year-old survivor from the deadly shooting at UCC is speaking out, calling her classroom peers “heroes.”

Ana Boylan was in class at Umpqua Community College on Thursday when Christopher Mercer opened fire. Nine people were killed and nine others injured, including Mercer who committed suicide.

Boylan says she was hit with a bullet in her leg. While Boylan says she will never forget Thursday’s events, she isn’t mad at the shooter but instead feels sorry for him.

“I’m not going to use my strength and my time to be mad, I’m not going to hate him.
in all honesty, I feel sorry for him, I feel bad for him. I just wish he could’ve not done that,” said Boylan.

Boylan is expected to make a full recovery. She says she hopes events like the UCC shooting will no longer exist and that people can take a positive remark from the situation.

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