Bend police released surveillance video after a deadly shooting inside a Safeway grocery store

Shortly after Bend Police released a dramatic five-minute video compilation of the Eastside Safeway shooting on Thursday, including a worker's heroic confrontation with the gunman, Police Chief Mike Krantz explained that it was done in order to comply with state law regarding public records requests.

"We put this out as a legal obligation of what we’re required to, to comply with public records laws," Krantz told NewsChannel 21. "We made the decision to release what we believe would satisfy or answer those questions in the public records request, as well as print material with it to identify what was showing."

The 20-year-old Bend gunman who fired over 100 shots before and after he entered Bend's Eastside Safeway on Sunday, August 28, killing a customer, then a store worker who hid and confronted him with a produce knife, was acting alone, police said Thursday, concluding their investigation and releasing chilling video of the attack.

In what police called a "final update" on the act of violence that rocked the Central Oregon community, Communications Manager Sheila Miller wrote that as of now, "Bend Police have found no evidence that anyone other than the suspect was involved in" the assault. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel also told NewsChannel 21 there is "zero evidence of other people involved" in the shooting.

Krantz said, "This was traumatic for our whole community and the importance of our community healing is our No. 1 priority."

"In the days following the Aug. 28 incident at Safeway, our Department received dozens of public records requests for video and reports related to the case. We denied those requests because it was an active investigation.

"Now that we are no longer actively investigating the case, we are releasing our department’s 398 pages of reports and a video used in our investigation. The Bend Police Department understands the public interest in this incident, and this release is meant to satisfy that interest and to demonstrate the accuracy of information previously released by our Department.

"The violence depicted in this video is horrific, and the Bend Police Department advises the public to take caution in viewing this video and reading these reports. The Police Department also asks media outlets to be thoughtful in what they choose to share.

"The video was created with help from Major Incident Team partners. It is the product of investigative work that stitches together surveillance videos from a Ring camera, Costco, Big Lots and Safeway to provide a detailed account of the suspect's path from the Fox Hollow Apartments into Safeway, where he shot and killed shopper Glenn Bennett and employee Donald Surrett Jr. before dying by suicide.

"The video is 5 minutes, 16 seconds long. There is no sound, and all faces have been redacted. All incidents of grievous injury and death have been redacted as well.

"At the bottom of this release, you’ll find a detailed timeline to help interpret the video.

"Reports show that after our on-duty officers’ initial response to the scene, the entire Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, as well as approximately 30 off-duty members of the Bend Police Department, responded to the scene.

"In addition to Bend Police resources, dozens of law enforcement officers from other agencies, including the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police Department, Oregon State Police, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Prineville Police Department and Sunriver Police Department responded and assisted in our investigation.

"Those responding units assisted with everything from evidence collection and investigation to scene security, witness interviews, non-related patrol calls and response to additional reports of threats to the community in the aftermath of the Safeway shooting, all of which were ultimately unfounded. We are thankful to our neighboring agencies for assisting the Bend Police Department on this case.

"In addition, Bend Police received further assistance from Bend Fire & Rescue, Redmond Fire & Rescue, the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office, City of Bend Public Works, the Oregon Department of Transportation, St. Charles Bend and the Oregon State Police crime lab. We appreciate these agencies’ efforts as well.

"As previously noted, this was an extremely large, involved crime scene. Law enforcement interviewed and contacted more than 80 people – witnesses or those otherwise related to the incident. Our Department collected at least 173 pieces of evidence, as well as at least 90 videos and sets of photos supporting our investigation.