A Safeway employee who tried to disarm a gunman Sunday was fatally shot during the encounter, but police say he likely prevented more bloodshed at the east Bend grocery store.

Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, of Bend, was praised for his heroic actions while trying to stop Ethan Blair Miller, said Bend Police Department spokesperson Sheila Miller at a press conference Monday.

Moments before his encounter with Surrett, Ethan Miller, 20, of Bend, also fatally shot customer Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, of Bend, and injured two other people, police said.

Ethan Miller killed himself as officers stormed the grocery store in The Forum Shopping Center on U.S. Highway 20 near NE 27th Street, police said.

“Mr. Surrett engaged with the shooter, attempted to disarm him and may very well have prevented further deaths. Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible event,” Sheila Miller said.

Police responded to multiple 911 calls at 7:04 p.m. The incident was over four minutes later when officers found the gunman’s body in the Safeway produce section. Near him was an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun.

Sheila Miller said police entered the Safeway while shots were still being fired.

Ethan Miller lived at the Fox Hollow Apartments behind the Safeway store. Police searched the apartment on Monday. They also searched his vehicle, where they found two Molotov cocktails and a sawed-off shotgun.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at the press conference that they are still investigating the motive behind the attack.

The shooter appeared to have left behind a series of violent threats on the online social reading platform Wattpad, but they have now been removed. One post said an attack was initially planned at Mountain View High School on the first day of school. Krantz said at the press conference Monday that he could not confirm the shooter’s connection to the high school.

Police are investigating the posts that Ethan Miller appeared to have made online prior to the shooting, but could not confirm which account or posts they were investigating. Sheila Miller said police have no evidence of previous threats the shooter may have made and added that he does not have a criminal history.

The shooter also appeared to have written on the platform about needing to make bombs.

Police said Monday that statements the suspected shooter made prompted them to call the Oregon State Police bomb squad, which responded Monday morning.

The squad cleared Safeway and the Fox Hollow Apartments, which some residents had evacuated.

On Sunday, rumors quickly spread online about a second shooter in the area and possible other shootings in Bend. Police said that while they received multiple reports of shots fired in other parts of town Sunday, they have found no evidence of a second shooter or other incidents that occurred Sunday.

“We believe there is no further threat to our community at this time,” Sheila Miller said.

Police are still investigating how the shooter obtained the guns he possessed and have not yet determined whether or not he purchased the guns legally. Police also have yet to determined how many shots were fired during the incident.

Krantz said Monday that the city of Bend’s “perception of safety and peace was shattered last night, and we will work to rebuild that as a community.”