A gunman who shot nine people dead at an American college posted social media content supporting the IRA.

The suspect, named as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, died in an exchange of gunfire with police in Oregon.

A Myspace page bearing Mercer's name contains pictures of masked gunmen and references to the IRA.

This includes a picture of the front page of a 2007 edition of the newspaper An Phoblacht, bearing the headline "British army could not defeat IRA".

While another photo on the page carries the words "IRA undefeated army".

July 12th 2007 edition of An Phoblacht | Image: An Phoblacht

A Myspace page attributed to Chris Harper Mercer | Image: MySpace

Harper-Mercer was said to have been born in England before moving to the States as a young boy, according to reports in America.

He was killed after opened fire at at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, killing nine and wounding at least seven others.

It is reported he ordered students to stand up and state their religion before the shooting.

Three handguns and a "long gun" belonging to the gunman have been recovered from the scene.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin confirmed that 10 people, including the gunman, were killed in the shooting, which took place around 10.30am local time on Thursday.

The massacre is the deadliest shooting in the US since nine people died in a rampage at a South Carolina church in June.

The gunman's father, Ian Mercer, said he was "shocked" and "devastated" by the news.

President Barack Obama called for stricter gun control laws in America to stop the violence.

According to his profile on a dating site Harper-Mercer is 'mixed race,' a 'conservative Republican,' 'not religious' and lives with his mother.

He wrote in a post this August about how much he admired Vester Flanagan, the gunman who killed a cameraman and presenter live on television.

Flanagan shot the pair dead after getting fired from the TV station where his victims were employed.

Harper-Mercer wrote: "On an interesting note, I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are".

"A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone".

David Jaques owns a newspaper, The Roseburg Beacon, close to the college campus.

He told Newstalk Breakfast there seems to have been religious motives.