--- description: Johnson had started at Umpqua Community College on Monday, his heartbroken mother said title: Mother of Oregon Shooting Victim Says He Was Turning His Life Around image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebd6e6641b89f94d/698866b3196cf466c10385b6/umpqua-college-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Heartbroken Mother of Oregon Shooting Victim Says He Was Turning His Life Around by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2015 6:47 PM CUT  A search and rescue vehicle is seen parked at the entrance to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. on Oct. 2, 2015. A search and rescue vehicle is seen parked at the entrance to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. on Oct. 2, 2015.Josh Edelson—AFP/Getty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2015 6:47 PM CUT The heartbroken mother of one of the Oregon college students slain in [Thursday’s horrific shooting spree](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/oregon-college-shooting "undefined") spoke proudly of her son, who she said was excited to be turning his life around. Jason Johnson, 33, had struggled with drug abuse, but completed a six-month rehab program with The Salvation Army in Portland and wanted to continue his education, his mother, Tonja Johnson Engel, said Friday. This was Johnson’s first week as a student at Umpqua Community College. “He started Monday and he was so proud of what he had accomplished, and rightly so,” Johnson Engel tearfully told NBC News. “The other… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/oregon-college-shooting/oregon-shooting-slain-student-jason-johnson-was-hopeful-future-n437591?cid=par-time-article%5F20151002 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4059913/oregon-shooting-victim-jason-johnson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4059913/oregon-shooting-victim-jason-johnson/"},"headline":"Heartbroken Mother of Oregon Shooting Victim Says He Was Turning His Life Around","datePublished":"2015-10-02T18:47:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:29:10.235Z","description":"He had just started at Umpqua Community College on Monday","url":"https://time.com/4059913/oregon-shooting-victim-jason-johnson/","keywords":["Crime","oregon","tragedy","Oregon shooting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebd6e6641b89f94d/698866b3196cf466c10385b6/umpqua-college-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebd6e6641b89f94d/698866b3196cf466c10385b6/umpqua-college-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING-OREGON","caption":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING-OREGON","creditText":"Josh Edelson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4059913/oregon-shooting-victim-jason-johnson/","name":"Heartbroken Mother of Oregon Shooting Victim Says He Was Turning His Life Around"}}]}] ```