The man killed by police on 1 October after he fatally shot ten people at a community college in southern Oregon was a 26-year-old who lived close to the campus, according to neighbours.

A law enforcement source said multiple agencies had identified the shooter as Chris Harper-Mercer. Online directories list a man of that name as having lived in Torrance, California, before moving to Winchester, Oregon.

Two neighbours said they recognised online photos of Harper-Mercer as a man from the apartment building. A phone number listed for the address was busy.

A neighbour from the building next to where Harper-Mercer is believed to have lived - and which was surrounded by law enforcement on Thursday - said Harper-Mercer had recently moved into the apartment block.

"Just from pictures, just recognising him. That's it. He's outside playing with the kids, if they're his kids or whose kids they are. I watch everyone that goes back there because we got two girls and if something happens, it ain't going to be pretty," said the neighbour, Steven Fisher, who said he had never spoken to Harper-Mercer.

By early evening on Thursday multiple law enforcement vehicles, personnel and dogs had gathered at the pink apartment complex, which is about a four-minute drive for Umpqua Community College.

Police tape was drawn across one of the units and officers were stationed outside the door. Investigators from multiple agencies, including the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, Homeland Security Protective Services and the FBI were on site.

More about the UCC shooting