Oregon Shooting Victims: Teens and a Teacher

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The nine people killed after a gunman opened fire on an Oregon community college took different paths to the small rural campus. Some were teens starting college for the first time; others were adults seeking a second career. One was an assistant professor of English at the college.

The mass shooting also injured several people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The gunman killed himself after authorities arrived.

Here is a look at some of the victims:

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Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, loved the outdoors, her 18-year-old daughter and her two Great Pyrenees dogs, said Robert Stryk, owner of Pyrenees Vineyards in Myrtle Creek, where Dietz worked as a caretaker for many years.

Dietz was taking classes at the same college as her daughter, who was unhurt in the shooting, Stryk said.

"That's really the tragedy here, is that this is a woman who was just trying to better herself," he said.

Dietz's ex-husband, Eric Dietz, is the vineyard manager, and both were still close friends, Stryk said.

Eric Dietz posted a picture of Kim on Facebook and confirmation of her death "with deep grief in my heart."

Stryk said Kim Dietz was originally from England.

"She was a very energetic, very kind, kind soul," he said. "Kim was an exceptional woman."

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The father of 19-year-old Lucero Alcaraz fought back tears and anger outside of his Roseburg home.

"There is no sense in talking about it. It's in vain," Ezequiel Alcaraz said in Spanish. "What's the point in showing our pain?"

Lucero's sister, Maria Leticia Alcaraz, posted news of the death on Facebook.

"She was my best friend and my sister," Maria Alcaraz wrote. "I'm full of anger, pain, sadness, regret that I didn't get the chance to see her or prevent this from happening."

Maria Alcaraz also wrote of being proud of her sister for getting scholarships that would cover her college costs, and said she would have been a great pediatric nurse.

"You were going to do great things," she wrote.

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Jason Johnson, 33, was in his first week at the college, his mother told NBC News.

Tonja Johnson Engel said her son had struggled with drug abuse but decided to continue his education after completing a six-month rehab program.

"The other day, he looked at me and hugged me and said, 'Mom, how long have you been waiting for one of your kids to go to college?' And I said, 'Oh, about 20 years,'" Engel told NBC News.

She said that her son kissed her before he left for class Thursday. He said he loved her and would see her that afternoon.

In a statement, the family said they felt Jason had finally found his path.

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The family of 18-year-old Quinn Glen Cooper of Roseburg wrote in a statement that "Quinn was funny, sweet, compassionate and such a wonderful loving person."

"He always stood up for people," the statement reads.

Cooper was going to take his brown belt test next week and loved dancing, voice acting and playing Ingress with his older brother, Cody.

"Our lives are shattered beyond repair," his family wrote. "No one should ever have to feel the pain we are feeling. Please remember the victims and their families. Please remember Quinn."

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The family of 18-year-old Lucas Eibel of Roseburg said he was studying chemistry and loved Future Farmers of America and volunteering at the Wildlife Safari and Saving Grace animal shelter.

"He was an amazing soccer player," a family statement reads. They also noted his academic achievements, including graduating from Roseburg High School with high academic marks, receiving a Ford Family Foundation scholarship, and receiving an Umpqua Community College scholars award.

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Lawrence Levine, 67, of Glide was an assistant professor of English at the college and a member of Steamboaters, a fly fishing and conservation group.

Dale Greenley, a fellow member of the group said Levine was an avid fisherman who used to be a guide on the north Umpqua River.

"He was kind of quiet and laid back, he didn't say much," Greenley said. "But he was a good writer."

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Sarena Dawn Moore of Myrtle Creek, 44, was a member of Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist Church, which had a post on its Facebook page mourning her death.

The Oregonian reported that Moore was a graduate of a high school in Reno, Nevada, and that she had two sons also living in southern Oregon.

Moore's brother, Rick Goin, said it's too early for him to speak about Moore's death but he was glad the shooter did not survive.

"The shooter is gone and we don't have to wait for trials and everything else," he told the newspaper.

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Treven Taylor Anspach, 20, of Sutherlin was the son of a Roseburg firefighter.

In a written statement read by officials, his family said Anspach was "one of the most positive young men, always looking for the best in life."

"Treven was larger than life and brought out the best in those around him," his family wrote.

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Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18, of Myrtle Creek, was the niece of an area paramedic and a relative of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon.

In a written statement, Merkley wrote: "Rebecka's beautiful spirit will be enormously missed."

A GoFundMe site has been set up for Carnes by her cousin, Lisa Crawford at http://bit.ly/1ON5WHD to help Carnes' parents "with Becka's final expenses."

"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have watched Becka grow up," Crawford wrote on the site. "She had just started a new job and college classes. This isn't how life is supposed to work and I am struggling to wrap my mind around the entire situation."

Crawford said that the people in Carnes' life "loved her fiercely and are devastated."

"Don't let life ever become so busy that you don't have a moment to stop and be kind to someone," Crawford wrote. "Let love and gentleness shine in the wake of this violence."

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Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes and Gosia Wozniacka in Roseburg, Oregon, and Jonathan J. Cooper, in Portland, Oregon, contributed.