Of all the people in the news immediately after the Clackamas Town Center shootings, Nick Meli remains the most elusive and controversial.

Meli, 23, an off-duty, state-licensed security guard, was legally carrying a concealed handgun in the mall when Jacob Tyler Roberts began shooting indiscriminately at shoppers.

In interviews with The Oregonian and KGW-TV, he described taking a position behind a pillar, drawing his .40-caliber Glock 22 pistol and aiming at Roberts. He said he didn't shoot for fear of hitting bystanders. Meli also said Roberts realized he was in his sights before he ran down a back stairwell and fatally shot himself.

Nick Meli

But Meli also cut the interviews short. He did not respond to a phone call this week requesting an interview.

By all accounts, Meli acted responsibly at the Town Center, protecting his family and other shoppers and providing helpful information to police in the heat of the chase. But Meli's silence has effectively divided the public into two camps: One that believes Meli is a hero, a good guy with a gun who stopped a bad guy with a gun, preventing further bloodshed. The other believes Meli embellished his story to take undue credit.

There is no concrete proof either way. Mall surveillance videos show him for only a few seconds and do not document Meli drawing his gun.

A review of police reports on the shootings shows that Meli's story changed slightly over time. In the four reports that mention him, taken on different days, Meli's account went from simply drawing his gun to aiming at Roberts and finally to aiming at Roberts and having Roberts react to the threat by leaving the area.

A year later, Meli no longer works as a security guard for Oregon Patrol Service.

-- Rick Bella