Crime

A Nurse, a Teacher and Students Young and Old: One by One, Families Tell Their Heartbreak for the 9 Victims of College Shooting

Lucero Alcaraz, Treven Anspach and Rebecka Carnes are just three of the nine killed in Oregon Thursday

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Published on October 2, 2015 05:40 PM

As the victims of Thursday’s Roseburg, Oregon, shooting are identified, portraits emerge of hard-working students with bright futures, a dedicated teacher, thoughtful friends, siblings, daughters and sons mourned by their family members, their town of 22,000 – and the nation.

Nine victims were killed and nine more wounded by suspected gunman Chris Harper Mercer, 26. On Friday, authorities officially identified the nine whose lives were lost:

Lucero Alcaraz, 19

Alcaraz won scholarships to attend Umpqua Community College and had hopes of being a pediatric nurse, according to her sister Maria Leticia Alcaraz.

Maria Leticia wrote Friday “Lucero, I miss you I wish you were here, I can’t sleep. I never got the chance to tell you how proud of you I was.”

Kaitlyn Ball, who grew up with Lucero, tells PEOPLE, “She was a great girl with a bright future. Some of my most remembered childhood memories were in her house and in her yard considering we would all play with one another every day.”

Treven Anspach, 20

Anspach was a great basketball player who worked at Roseburg Forest Products in the plywood department, his friend Jesse Milbrat tells PEOPLE.

“I was with him the last day I was in Oregon before I left for the Army [in May],” Milbrat says. “The last thing he said to me was, ‘Good luck and thanks for your service.’ ”

Adds Milbrat: “He was a great kid. He deserves way better. He will be truly missed. Prayers to his family.”

Rebecka Carnes, 18

Carnes started classes at UCC on Monday and had joined her mom, Jessica Chandler, for lunch on Wednesday. When PEOPLE spoke to Chandler Thursday, she did not know if her daughter was alive.

“They just told us to come to the Fairgrounds and wait,” Chandler said. “Her best friend told me she’s been life-flighted to RiverBend [Hospital]. I called there, gave them descriptions of her name, tattoos and told them she was in the same class as the shooting.”

Larry Levine, 67

Levine was an assistant professor of English, according to Reuters. He was teaching in the classroom targeted by the gunman.

Prior to receiving knowledge of Levine’s death, Professor Ken Carloni said he “didn’t hear gunshots, which was surprising to me given he was using a small caliber weapon,” Carloni told PEOPLE Thursday. “I didn’t know anything was happening until one of my colleagues informed me there was an active shooter situation.”

“Our hope as faculty members is fading that Larry will have survived this, Carloni said after the shooting, noting several professors met Thursday evening to “see if we can put our heads around this all. It’s ridiculous and it’s senseless.”

Kim Dietz, 59

Dietz’s husband Eric confirmed via Facebook that his wife was killed in the shooting. “It is with deep grief in my heart that I must announce that Kim was one of the people killed yesterday at UCC,” he wrote.

Quinn Cooper, 18

According to a GoFundMe account set up in his name, Cooper was “full of life.”

“Quinn was my youngest son and younger brother to my eldest son Cody Cooper. Quinn is everything and he was loved by everyone. He will be missed greatly by many many people please remember him for his fun and witty nature and all of the fun he had with everyone,” the description reads.

In a statement, his family said: “We are in shock this happened. Quinn was only 18 years old. He just graduated in June from RHS. Yesterday was his fourth day of college.

“Quinn was funny, sweet, compassionate and such a wonderful, loving person. He always stood up for people… Our lives are shattered beyond repair.”

Lucas Eibel, 18

Eibel’s family released a statement: “We have been trying to figure out how to tell everyone how amazing Lucas was, but that would take 18 years. Lucas loved FFA, volunteering at Wildlife Safari and Saving Grace animal shelter. He was an amazing soccer player. He graduated Roseburg High School with high academic marks. He was a Ford Family Foundation scholarship recipient. He was studying chemistry.”

Jason Johnson, 34

In a statement released Friday, Johnson’s family said: “Jason Johnson, age 34, was proud to be a Christian. Jason recently enrolled in school at Umpqua Community College. Jason’s mother said that Jason was proud of himself for enrolling in school, and so was his mom. They felt that Jason had finally found his path. His family says that he will be loved and missed.”

Sarena Dawn Moore, 44

PEOPLE reached out to Moore’s family for a statement, but they declined to comment.

•With reporting by CHRIS HARRIS

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