Kortney Moore told the Roseburg News-Review newspaper that she was in a writing class when a shot came through a window. The gunman entered her classroom and told people to get on the ground. The man then started asking people to stand up and state their religion and opened fire.

Lorie Andrews, who lives across the street from the campus, said she heard what sounded like fireworks followed by sirens. She walked up the road and spoke to students who had streamed out.

“One girl came out wrapped in a blanket with blood on her,” Andrews said.

Hours after the attack, a visibly angry President Barack Obama spoke to reporters, saying the US is becoming numb to mass shootings.

Repeating his support for tighter gun-control measures, he said thoughts and prayers are no longer enough in such situations because they do nothing to stop similar attacks.

Nodding to the arguments that such shootings are often committed by the mentally ill, Obama said it was clear that anyone who commits such crimes had a "sickness in their minds".

"But we are not the only country on Earth who has people with mental illnesses who want to do harm to other people," he said. "We are the only advanced country on Earth who sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months."

Sheriff Hanlin said the gunman was killed during an exchange of gunfire with officers. The sheriff did not say whether the shooter was killed by officers or took his own life.

“We locked our door, and I went out to lock up the restrooms and could hear four shots from the front of campus,” UCC Foundation Executive Director Dennis O’Neill told the Roseburg newspaper.

The school has about 3,000 students. Its website was down Thursday, and a phone message left at the college was not immediately returned.

Neither state police nor the sheriff’s office returned calls from The Associated Press seeking details.

The sheriff’s office reported on Twitter that it received a call about the shooting at 10:38 a.m. The local fire district advised people via Twitter to stay away from the school.

Later in the day, students and faculty members were being bused to the county fairgrounds, the sheriff’s office said.

Former UCC President Joe Olson, who retired in June after four years, said the school had no formal security staff, just one officer on a shift.

One of the biggest debates on campus last year was whether to post armed security officers on campus to respond to a shooting.

“I suspect this is going to start a discussion across the country about how community colleges prepare themselves for events like this,” he said.

Sutherland High School Principal Justin Huntley said some of his former students were in the room where the shooting took place.

The school made counselors available for students.

“It’s a very somber day,” Huntley said. “You take some deep breaths and you just try to get through it.”

Roseburg Public Schools Superintendent Gerry Washburn said a large number of Roseburg High School students go straight to UCC after graduation.

“We are a small, tight community, and there is no doubt that we will have staff and students that have family and friends impacted by this event,” he said.

The rural town lies west of the Cascade Mountains in an area where the timber industry has struggled. In recent years, officials have tried to promote the region as a tourist destination for vineyards and outdoor activities.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse