Obama: Opinions need to change

A woman looks distressed Tuesday, June 10, after a shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon. One student was killed at the school, and the suspected shooter is also dead, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said.

The shooting happened at about 8 a.m., said Sue Strickland of the Troutdale Police Department. A semiautomatic weapon was involved in the shooting, she said.

Family and friends of Reynolds High School students waited outside for word of students' safety. Details about what led to the shooting weren't immediately available.

About an hour after the shooting, Oregon State Police said the area was secure and the situation was contained.

Troutdale, about 12 miles east of Portland, has a population of about 16,400, according to the Census Bureau.

• President says mass shootings commonplace in America


• He said public opinion must change or "we're not going to change"


• Obama spoke as nation reacted to another school shooting -- this one in Oregon

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Tuesday the nation should be ashamed of the inability to get tougher gun restrictions through Congress in the aftermath of mass shootings that he said have become commonplace in America.

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He said the United States was the only developed country on Earth where mass shootings occur with regularity, adding that "if public opinion does not change, we're not going to change."

Obama added that politicians from both parties were "terrified" of the National Rifle Association, saying the organization was well-funded and able to influence elections to prevent any significant new gun regulations from becoming law.

He also rejected the contention that mentally ill people were the reason for mass shootings, saying "the United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people ... and yet we kill each other in these mass shootings" at much higher rates than other countries.

His comments came while taking questions online about education, and as the nation reacted to another deadly school shooting -- this one near Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday.

Fast Facts: U.S. school violence