A shooter wearing a hockey mask entered the Clackamas Town Center mall outside Portland, Oregon late this afternoon and opened fire. A police officer giving a press conference being streamed here reports that the shooter killed two and wounded one before either being killed or committing suicide himself (the officer refused to divulge that information), and initial reports state that an “assault style” rifle was used. Reports are coming in from commenters below that the mall is in fact a gun-free zone, as are all properties managed by the company that owns the mall, and that the gun-free zone status had been enforced previously on concealed carry holders carrying in the mall. He gave no information about the shooter other than the fact that he was male and no longer consuming oxygen. More as details become available.

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51 COMMENTS

  1. Truly sad….
    I am waiting for Bob Costas and some others to chime in, I am sure it won’t be long.
    My prayers and thoughts are with those families affected.

    • Oops the local mall is owned by them and I carry there all the time never seen a posted sign but will have to look closer next time I’m their

      • Check to the right or left of a mall entrance, not a store entrance. Look for a placard with small letter engraving. My local mall has something that is out of the way and unable to be read as you enter. I only know this because it was shown to me by head of security as he kicked me out because I was open carrying in the mall.

  4. One witness said he entered the mall and double-timed some distance through the mall with the rifle in clear view, passing by dozens of people before he opened fire. I don’t know what I would think if somebody ran by me in a mall with an AR. I mean, other than “Oh, this can’t be good.” And then, “GTFO!!”.

    • Maybe I’m weird but I’d try to disarm the guy. If I see someone running through a mall with a rifle who isn’t a cop, I’m not giving them the chance to shoot me. It isn’t hard to disarm someone running, you have the element of surprise. But then again, I won’t go somewhere unarmed except work, which is in a federal building.

      • If I see Jason with an AR running at me and I am armed…well one of us is going down.

        Too bad all these shootings seem to happen in GFZ’s.

    • Low body count and now this it is starting to sound like this wasn’t random. Like he was targeting someone specific. More like a domestic violence thing than a random spree shooting.

  5. Our prayers and condolences with the families of the dead and wounded!!
    Glad the shooter is no longer using up valuable oxygen.

    • This is a copy of the letter I sent to the group that owns the Clackas Mall.

      Sir,
      Due to your companies policy on no firearms in your Clackamas Town Center Mall you and every one of your colleagues now have the blood of the dead and injured on your hands.

      Please change your policy immediately before someone else dies because of your lack of caring for your customers well being and safety. Your lack of concern for their safety and your obvious desire for their money to be spent in your groups holdings just proves you are not concerned about them, just their money.

      If a concealed carry licensee had been allowed to carry his or her firearm in the mall then this disaster might have been averted or the shooters attention drawn to them until the police arrived.

      I will find out what properties your group owns and ensure that everyone I know, both online and in person, are persuaded to not shop at any of your company stores and properties until such time as you change your companies policy to allow law abiding citizens to carry their legally owned firearms in your stores and malls for the defense of theirselves, their families and others!

         Sincerely,
      Mark

  7. “with what is believed to be a black, semiautomatic rifle”

    What’s this? A technically accurate description of an ar15 by ABC? That writer’s going to get a stern talking to in the morning.

  8. One unconfirmed report locally said he was garbed in black and camo, and wearing a ski mask. The shooting allegedly took place at the food court. I ate at the food court in this mall a few months ago and the Asian food really was surprisingly decent.

  9. Wouldn’t it be a great ending to a terrible story if the perp was ventilated by a CCW holder, which is why they won’t comment on mode of death?

  11. I live in Gresham, Oregon and I go to Clackamas Town Center Mall, They’re a “Gun Free Zone” mall all right. They have a policy of weapons, even legally carried are not allowed.

    • “They have a policy of weapons, even legally carried are not allowed.”

      Well, then the media should be ashamed, because they are clearly publicizing a false story. There’s no way this could have happened, because the foul miscreant with evil intent would surely have seen the signs, and with head hanging dejectedly, returned home.

    • Matt,

      Tomorrow, I think that Keiths Sporting Goods in Gresham is going to sell even more guns than they would have otherwise. Same will be for gun stores all around Portland.

  12. The anti-gun crowd sure have easy jobs. It only takes one bad apple to make every
    gun owner look bad.

    Another nail in 2nd. Amendments coffin.

    • Aragorn, have you seen the Federal court ruling striking down the concealed carry ban in Illinois? The 2a is alive, well and not anywhere as near a coffin as it was in the late 60’s.

      Apparently Federal judges are waking up to the fact that you can’t take away my rights for the crimes committed by another. Which is how it should be.

      Silly thing, that Constitution. It gives individual’s rights.

      • Uh….. the Constitution gives us NO rights. Our rights come from our Creator. The Constitution merely reaffirms these rights.

        To state things as you have belies a misunderstanding of the nature of the fundamental rights of man.

      • Just because the state of Il. has decided to leave the dark ages means very little across the board. The Federal Gov’t. and president have no problem getting around the rights of citizens.

        • You should check some state-stats from the recent past decades and see how many states went from no-issue to shall-issue (and so on). We are clearly winning across the board.

  13. Just another example of why gun free zones are stupid/awful ideas. Let’s present a target rich environment. You think companies would get the right idea after all of these shootings.

  14. I live in Portland, but often need to traipse out to Clackamas Town Center for stuff.

    Never noticed it was a “gun free zone.” Mostly because I simply don’t care. It’s a concealed weapons permit after all. It’s never been a problem and if it is, we’re talking about a very minor misdemeanor trespassing charge. The only way they would catch you is if you actually pulled in a situation that required the use of lethal force, in which case, good luck having the Clackamas prosecutor go after you.

    Edited to Add: The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is exceptionally pro civilian gun ownership. They go as far as to actually open up their primary training range to civilians, along with gun rentals, a substantial gun safety program and very high quality training performed by the same cadre that trains Sheriff deputies. Here is their website:

    http://www.clackamas.us/sheriff/pstc.html

    Ironically, this facility is literally right behind the Clackamas Town Center property.

  15. Wonder what the legal liability is for the mall owner. They can’t have it both ways – if it is gun free, you owe a duty to protect. Otherwise, let people carry.

    • That isn’t the way the antis see it – they think less guns equals more safety, and they don’t seem to care if the facts don’t support them.

  16. Local rumors are swirling about how the shooter was killed from a self-inflicted gun shot to a CC holder shopper taking him out. Therefore, he was probably killed by a cop. I’m glad that I prefer to do my holiday shopping on the Internet.

  17. I was at a mall in Virginia recently that I frequently visit and I have never seen a sign saying anything about weapons (not saying they aren’t there, but I haven’t seen them). I usually carry concealed, but it had gotten pretty warm that day so I took off my jacket, fully exposing my Glock 19 in an OWB leather holster. About 15 minutes after entering the mall, one of their security officers approached me and asked me if I was PD. I said that I wasn’t and she responded that unfortunately the owners of the mall had a no weapons policy. I asked if they extended that policy to permit holders. She said that it didn’t matter. She was very courteous and respectful. She let me finish my purchase and then walked with me to the exit closest to my vehicle. While walking I asked her if she had to deal with this a lot. She said it actual happens quite frequently. I asked her what the owners’ contingency plan was for an active shooter. She said all they could do is call the police. She went on to say that the security officers are actually employed by a security company that is contracted by the mall. She said that on other security jobs they carry weapons, but the mall owners won’t even allow them to carry pepper spray. She admitted that she believed that they should be allowed to carry weapons and that permit holders should be allowed to carry as well. I thanked her for her courteousness and went on my way.

  18. So now we have another nut job (near Portland Oregon this time) going out in a blaze of glory in a place where he knows he can rack up a body count and make a name for himself as his last desperate act. And once again, before the bodies are cold and the wounds are bandaged, the internet is abuzz in a rush to violate our human right of self-defense and the tools to provide it instead of asking why this fool chose to do this act in this place.

    Going by past experience, over the next few days we will learn everything about this depraved young man. We will learn his name, where he lived, who his relationships are, the contents of his notes and social media and…the type and caliber of tool he chose to do what he did.

    What we will not have…again…is serious soul searching about the violent nature of our cultural entertainment and the fantasies of the games we play. We will not seriously talk about why some people have such pent up hate they cannot express to others in a meaningful way. And, we will continue to ignore that another mass shooting happened in a place where law-abiding, background-checked responsibly armed people are banned from taking responsibility for their own safety by a mere no-guns sign while the management of the business takes no real measures to ensure the security that has been revoked from the law-abiding.

    Once again we have another lost young loner with a gun seeking to violate the peace of people enjoying each other’s company. He chose this place because he fancied himself to be a wolf in a place of peaceful, unsuspecting, grazing sheep. He knew there would be no sheepdogs around because the sheep had voted them away. Sheepdogs are scary and ruin the mood. Sheep can’t tell the difference between the sheepdogs and the wolves.

    This young man was no wolf. He was a pitiful human being looking for attention in a desperate way. The answer is not another prohibition; on guns this time. Alcohol prohibition didn’t work and drug prohibition is not going well. Gun prohibition would cause even more violence problems. Let’s address the real problem of selfishness in the culture. Find a stranger and make a new friend tomorrow. Show someone you actually care about them.

  19. I heard about this at 4pm when one of the Gresham fire (at least i think he’s with Gresham) guys came into my CrossFit gym. Surprised the heck out of me. Both my bosses had family in the mall working at the time of the shooting. It will be interesting to hear their stories.

    It also made me think how much I don’t like being told I can’t carry by my main employer (warehouse style retailer).

  20. ALWAYS carry in “gun free zones” (unless courthouse or other odvious places).
    Better judged by twelve than carried by six.

  21. Strange and sad at the same time how criminals always seem to pick gun free zones. My prayers go out to their loved ones. You would think the media would put two and two together by now. I need to quit dreaming.

    The media will always portray an inanimate object as the villian and not the person.

  25. I have to ask: Why was the lunatic the only one with a gun? Wait: are U ready? The answer is obvious, it was a gun free zone. The stupidity of management in declaring their business gun free zones is so ignorant that it is hard to understand why anyone would undertake such a policy. I would simply ignore gun free zone policy and CCW anyway. Let the owners or management sue me or have a prosecutor and the police arrest and prosecute me for illegal discharge or what ever. At least if I had to shoot a deranged shooter to save my own life I would be alive to fight the charges.

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