The 2022 Bend, Oregon Safeway Shooting

On August 28, 2022, Ethan Blair Miller (pictured above) opened fire in a Safeway in Bend, Oregon. Miller would end up killing two people before turning the gun on himself.

Miller kept an online journal on the writing and publishing website Wattpad, named 'The Downward Spiral of Ethan Miller'. This was in reference to the 1994 Nine Inch Nails album, The Downward Spiral. Miller was a known fan of this band, as well as other hard rock bands like KMFDM and Disturbed.

Unsurprisingly, Miller displayed a fascination with the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. However, Miller undoubtedly had a preference for Klebold; his Wattpad username was wrathofman22, and the shirt he wore on the day of the shooting was reminiscent of Klebold's 'WRATH' shirt during Columbine.

In his journal, Miller described his fascination with the Columbine shooters, his anger against COVID-19 restrictions, and general rage against society. He blamed COVID-19 for the reason he was so isolated.

Miller was heavily influenced by Harris and Klebold, and he'd originally planned on attacking his old high school, Mountain View High School. However, he eventually decided that he "couldn't wait" for school to start again, and instead attacked the Safeway where he'd formerly been employed.

On the day of the shooting, Miller was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun. He was wearing an outfit very reminiscent of the Columbine shooters, featuring black pants, black combat boots, and a t-shirt with the word 'HURT' across the chest in bold, red letters.

At 7:04 PM, Miller shot 84-year-old customer Glenn Edward Bennett at the west entrance to the Safeway.

As Miller moved further into the store, he was attacked with a knife by 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr., who was an employee working that night. Surrett attempted to disarm Miller after stabbing him with a produce knife, but failed, and was ultimately shot to death. Surrett stabbing Miller potentially prevented multiple other deaths.

At 7:08 PM, Ethan Blair Miller was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Miller's attack in Bend, Oregon was so small scale that it was almost completely ignored by the nation outside of Oregon. In his manifesto, Miller stated that by the time he is dead, he will have committed a national tragedy.

Miller, like many other smaller-scale mass shooters that don't plan attacks on schools, took a large portion of his inspiration from the Columbine shooters. It is very likely that Miller perhaps saw himself in the young men. A past peer of Miller's described him as the "typical kid with anger issues" throughout his high school education; he was antisocial and quick to start fights that he would inevitably lose.

He went to incredible lengths to mimic Harris and Klebold, despite not committing a school shooting. As is usually the case in cases of mass shootings: it is very likely that if Miller had sought out help, instead of false idols in Harris and Klebold, the 2022 Bend Oregon shooting could've been prevented.