Clackamas Mall Shooting

View the Slideshow >>

(Gallery by Thomas Boyd, The Oregonian)

As up to 10,000 shoppers strolled amid holiday decorations and background Christmas carols, the Clackamas Town Center shopping mall erupted into a scene of horror Tuesday, when a masked gunman raced inside the mall and began firing dozens of shots.

Emergency 9-1-1 calls, tweets from customers and cell phone calls immediately portrayed a picture of violence, terror and confusion. Conflicting reports suggested the possibility of multiple gunmen and a half-dozen or more casualties, while the assailant apparently remained at large.

Police and emergency medical workers mobilized for the worst.

More

Early reports suggested two victims were killed and an unknown number injured.

An estimated 100 law enforcement personnel descended on the mall, including local police, state troopers and four tactical weapons teams, backed by members of the FBI and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Clackamas Fire District 1 dispatched 22 emergency vehicles. A fleet of ambulances arrived.

Shoppers, employees and witnesses ran for the parking lots. Stores were locked down. Cell phone circuits became overloaded. Interstate 205 and neighboring streets backed up with traffic. Empty brass cartridges piled up on the floor of the Town Center food court.

Only hours later could authorities sort of what had occurred.

What's next

Clackamas Town Center will be closed today and reopen once the investigation is completed. Check the Clackamas Town Center Facebook page or website for updates or call 503-653-6913.

Witnesses:

Police invite witnesses who have not been interviewed to call Clackamas County's non-emergency police dispatch line at 503-655-8211.

Shoppers, employees:

Belongings left behind during evacuation will be securely held until the mall reopens.

An unidentified gunman, acting alone, fired up to 60 shots before killing himself. The original reports of two dead were confirmed as the only fatalities. One 15-year-old Portland girl was taken by ambulance to OHSU Hospital, where she was in serious condition Tuesday night.

Officials declined to identify the victims.

The gunman died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Lt. James Rhodes, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said at a news conference. The gunman, reportedly 22, has been tentatively identified, but police did not release his name.

Shaun Wik was eating at Panda Express when he heard the gunman emerged near the mall's food court.

"I heard him yell, 'Get on the ground' twice," said Wik, 20, of Fairview. "Everyone scattered, hit the ground. People were getting trampled."

Bob Schwab, a World War II veteran who walks the mall for exercise, saw a surge of terrified shoppers rush out of the mall while one Santa took cover.

"I was by Santa Claus in front of Macy's when we heard, 'Pow. Pow. Pow,'" said Schwab, a Clackamas resident. "People screamed and ran. I saw Santa drop to the floor."

Sheriff Craig Roberts expressed sympathy for the victims, their families and holiday shoppers who lost their sense of security. He said about 10,000 shoppers were at the Town Center when the rampage erupted.

"For all of us, the mall is supposed to be a place where we can take our families, especially during the holiday season," Roberts said. "Things like this are not supposed to happen."

Roberts said a physician and two emergency-room nurses at the mall volunteered their services after the shooting, helping victims until emergency crews could arrive.

Vicky Lyashenko, 24, of Portland, said her best friend's sister-in-law, Kristina, 15, was the injured shopper, shot in the chest. She found out via texts from Kristina's family members.

Lyashenko said the girl will undergo surgery to remove bullet fragments. She said the girl is "stable." She declined to release the girl's last name.

According to police, the gunman, wearing a "Jason"-style hockey mask, entered the mall through Macy's department store around 3:25 p.m. The man, who may have been wearing body armor and black or camouflage clothing, hurried past a Salvation Army bell-ringer posted at the door.

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Baggs, leaving the mall, looked directly at the gunman just moments before he entered and opened fire.

"He was, like, 10 feet away from us, wearing a white mask and carrying something heavy with both hands," said Hannah, a freshman at LaSalle High School. "He went running into the store. I was scared, but I didn't tell my mom because I didn't want to get her upset."

In a flash, the sound of gunshots rang out and mall personnel rushed out the door, urging shoppers to leave.

"They said, 'Get in your cars. Get in your cars. We're not kidding,'" said Sharon Baggs of Southeast Portland, Hannah's mother. "It was so surreal."

Some ran from the mall. Others hid deep in stores that front on the concourses, hoping that the gunman wouldn't find them. Still others huddled together, crying.

John Canzano, sports columnist for The Oregonian, who was arriving at the mall to shop, reported that witnesses said they heard as many as 60 shots.

Canzano said the first thing he noticed was people running out of the mall, "kind of crying and upset." He stopped a person who said somebody was shooting in the mall.

"He called the scene, 'Not good, not good,'" Canzano said.

Police still are piecing together details of the incident. They have not yet indicated what the gunman's motive may have been. However, they are sure that the gunman acted alone.

"There was one and only one," Rhodes said.

Rhodes also said police did not engage the gunman and did not fire any weapons in the mall.

Immediately after the shooting, police officers began locking down the massive mall and blocking exits. While four SWAT teams conducted a store-by-store search of the 1.4 million square-foot mall, air traffic above the mall was restricted so helicopter ambulances could land.

The Sunnyside Road off-ramp from Interstate 205 was shut down during the search.

The mall's theaters, full of theater-goers unaware of the chaos outside, were escorted to safety.

At same time, several TriMet buses were called to take witnesses away for orderly interviews by police. Regular bus service was suspended on TriMet's 28, 29, 30, 31, 71, 72, 79, 152, 155 and 156 lines.

Some early unconfirmed reports indicated the gunman was carrying an AR-15 rifle, a semiautomatic, civilian version of the fully automatic, military M-16. Both rifles fire the same high-powered cartridge.

Police declined to confirm what kind of weapon they recovered. The floor was littered with empty shell casings.

An unconfirmed report indicated that that the rifle may have jammed at some point and that police found a full magazine on the floor.

Police worked late into the night, continuing to search retail floors, as well as concourses, service corridors and storage areas. There was no indication that they found anything unusual.

In addition, police will be viewing and analyzing surveillance video shot in stores and the mall's common areas to try to solve discrepancies in the witnesses' accounts.

Police also are working to contact witnesses who left the mall immediately after the shooting, before the investigation began.

Trauma Intervention Program volunteers were at the mall, working with those trying to gain perspective on the day's events.

Clackamas Town Center remained closed throughout Tuesday evening, which would have been one of the busiest days of the year. The mall also will remain closed Wednesday, according to a Clackamas Town Center statement.

A Facebook page has been established to express support for victims and families affected by the shooting.

Lyashenko said that she and young Kristina's family have been jolted by the shooting.

"She is so young, I just couldn't believe it was her," Lyashenko said. "You hear on the news about tragic things like this and you never expect it to happen to one of your loved ones.

"For something like this to happen during the holiday season is heartbreaking. It really makes you want to keep all of your family close because you never know what can happen."

Staff writers Heather Steeves, Steve Mayes, Molly Harbarger and Everton Bailey Jr. contributed to this report

--