Clackamas County Sherriff Craig Roberts describes the locations of the victims as he speaks at a press conference Wednesday Dec. 1`2, 2012, about the multiple shooting Tuesday at Clackamas Town Center Mall in Portland, Ore. Jacob Tyler Roberts killed two people and himself in the shooting rampage. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

 

Have you wondered why, in such a target rich environment as a suburban shopping mall two weeks before Christmas, the shooter at the Clackamas Town Center only managed to kill two people before dousing his own lights?

Part of the reason was a dodgy gun. But as is being reported by kgw.com, part was also due to the fact that, gun-free zone or not, Jacob Roberts was confronted by Nick Meli who was armed and has a concealed carry permit.

No, he didn’t fire because he feared hitting an innocent person behind Roberts if he missed. But Roberts knew Meli was there: “I know after he saw me, I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself.”

David Frum was unavailable for comment.

 

59 COMMENTS

  1. Now this is interesting. Don’t count on it making MSNBC or CNN. BTW, I can’t get the video to play or to view the full article.

    EDIT: oh wait, now the audio video is playing.

    • You know why it won’t get wide coverage? Not because of the media bias against all you poor gun owners but because his is a made-up story. Were there witnesses? Was there a video camera that caught his critical decision? No. He’s just another one of you guys telling stories that cannot be corroborated.

      The funny part is how quick you guys are to believe it. Any anti-gun suggestion you demand proof and evidence but when somebody says a telephone survey indicates that 95% of all DGUs are the brandishing kind, and they total millions, but there’s no records of them, you believe it. Same way you buy this guys story.

      • Well yes, let’s hope for some corroboration on this. there may be a chance that only the shooter saw Meli with his weapon because you can bet most people were ducking and running for cover and/or they were looking in the direction of the gun fire and not around at others to see what they were doing.
        Put yourself in that defensive posture. are you going to be looking around at others to see if they have a gun to help?
        Me? I’m drawing mine and looking for an opportunity to take him out.

      • Thank you!
        This story was never vetted. There is no proof any of it happened & nearly impossible he could have left without the weapon being discovered by police. That is why the police aren’t mentioning it, nor is it being reported by anyone else. Yet the gun fetishists and conspiracy theorists jump all over it. no need for proof!
        This guy either made it up to be a hero, or wanted to live out the ultimate gun owner’s dream, protecting his woman and children from a mass murderer…Unfortunately, saying it doesn’t make it true! No shot fired, no witnesses, he “knew” he made eye contact with a guy wearing a hockey mask at a distance, just as the gunman’s rifle jams and he runs away to fix it, and no pursuit attempted.
        Now some right wing news sites & crackpots are re-posting the story. Not following up, not investigating. Great to know people owning guns are so gullible. Very comforting.

      • I agree 100 percent Mike B. This is HORRIBLE journalism. A one-source story. The only thing I’ve been able to find that remotely corroborates this is from a blog post on an unabashedly pro gun website that claims it talked to his friend. But it’s glaringly inconsistent with every other report I’v eseen, which quotes law enforcement as saying the shooter’s body was found on a lower level in a hallway. There is nothing substantiated in this guy’s story. ONe source stories are exactly that: one source. Until I see proof, I call bullshit on Meli’s “story.”

  2. Deranged man shooting up mall is confronted with equal force, chooses to take his own life at that moment. Yep, we’ll never see this in the news.

    • There is nothing in that story to suggest the shooter saw the CHL holder or that his actions were impacted. I certainly hope so, but the story does not support the conclusion that the CHL holder saved lives.

      • Uh he pulled his gun on the guy, and the mall shooter only killed 2 people, and himself, despite being in a crowded mall during the holiday season. I would say it had an impact. Hopefully the video will come out and support what Nick Meli, and the news report say.

        • Your last sentence contradicts your first and second sentences and supports my entire comment. I’m just asking for statements based on facts, not hope. Same shit yesterday with shooters brother being initially identified as the shooter.

        • Uh I was not there. I can only take Nick Meli and the news at their word(s). Often times some may not tell the whole story, and the news outlets have been known to report things in a way which stretches the truth. As reported the news story supports my assertion, but I am being cautious until/if video “proof” of this possibly heroic action is released.

      • There is every indication that this was the trigger for the suicide…..He had another gun, and I wondered all along why the body count was only 2 if the police didn’t shoot this guy…….I had suspected with no confirmation that this might be the case. The evidence strongly shows that the presence of armed resistance forced the suicide, as we see in nearly ALL of these events……When police arrive, they suicide…..

      • Mr. Meli says in the story and video that the shooter looked at him. He is a first-hand witness. Whether another witness could corroborate that story is unknown, but that does suggest that the shooter saw him.

      • Miss this part?

        part was also due to the fact that, gun-free zone or not, Jacob Roberts was confronted by Nick Meli who was armed and has a concealed carry permit.

        Confronted usually means you see each other.

  3. If true, I think this might explain the lack of MSM coverage. This guy screwed up the narrative of the left.

    • This story was never vetted. There is no proof any of it happened & nearly impossible he could have left without the weapon being discovered by police. That is why the police aren’t mentioning it, nor is it being reported by anyone else. Yet the gun fetishists and conspiracy theorists jump all over it. no need for proof!
      This guy either made it up to be a hero, or wanted to live out the ultimate gun owner’s dream, protecting his woman and children from a mass murderer…Unfortunately, saying it doesn’t make it true! No shot fired, no witnesses, he “knew” he made eye contact with a guy wearing a hockey mask at a distance, just as the gunman’s rifle jams and he runs away to fix it, and no pursuit attempted.
      Now some right wing news sites & crackpots are re-posting the story. Not following up, not investigating. Great to know people owning guns are so gullible. Very comforting.

  4. Finally some good news. I scrolled down a bit on the KGW website and looked at the comments and people are being surprisingly supportive of this.

  5. Please someone get the security video and see if this is the case. If so, it helps prove that concealed carry stops these people which is what I believe. If we can prove it, the grabbers arguments go out the window.

    • They have been out the window for a long time and they cant prove otherwise. We have plenty of proof, you just cant argue with stupid.

  6. well according to Bobby Costas, he would rather no one else in the mall have a gun other than the shooter. he would rather avoid direct gun fire from a crazy shooter than take his chances of getting hit by a stray bullet by someone trying to stop the shooter. Nick Meli is a hero that no one will ever hear about.

  7. This wont go far in the MSM, it doesn’t fit their agenda. Even the Messiah (POTUS) wont acknowledge this if asked by a reporter, even though he knows by now. The fix is in.
    Reads like Nick Meli did exactly what he was trained to do.

  8. You’ll never see this on MSM or Main Stream Media because it debunks there Nazi gun ban. But this proves a good man with a gun will make a difference.

  9. Hopefully this will leak out and prove the point we have all been trying to make. Evil people won’t stop, but when faced with opposition they take the path of least resistance, i.e. killing themselves.

  10. like ive said a hundred times (emphasizing this to the chucklefucks that argued with me about it), most mass shooters that are pressured by somebody else with a gun will kill themselves.

  11. As unfortunate as the mall event, the school shooting, and the China stabbing were, they’re actually the ultimate trifecta of pro-2nd amendment material.

    The mall event proves the value of having armed good guys among the sheep when crazy people aim to cause a spree.

    The school shooting illustrates what happens when no one confronts the shooter immediately.

    And the China stabbing dispels the myth that inanimate objects, specifically guns, somehow make people “evil”.

    Done and done.

  12. Story killed. By another story with a bigger body count and a completely different narrative. One where there was no armed citizen. How convenient.

    • Were was it said that Meli is a member of the NRA? My gods, if the NRA were as powerful as the gun control freaks say, we wouldn’t have to fight for our gun rights.

      • i am just curious…do you truly believe you are fighting for your gun rights? you can go pick up a gun in a couple days anywhere in the united states even if you are completely insane as long as you don’t have a criminal record. you can buy a pistol or semi automatic weapons….where is the fighting part… interesting that this is how the progun people think.

    • Hey nick, you do realise that by commenting on this pro gun site you are supporting ad revenue for the pro gun crowd. And since this site gets 900 thousand hits a month the pols will consider all those to be pro gun voters and shy away from pushing gun control.

      As always when you under bridge dwelling types show up here, thank you for supporting our gun rights.

  13. “…I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself.”
    -Um, well… yes.
    I don’t think he shot anyone after he, you know, killed himself. It’s due to the ‘time flowing in one direction’ thingy.
    Or am I misinterpreting this?
    All that being said, I do hope it is true that the killer was prompted to off himself due to the action of a CCW holder.

    • Presumably he meant something like “I know after he saw me, I think the [only other] shot he fired was the one he used on himself.”

  14. I was talking to my wife about Newtown today. I made the point that if the shooter had been stopped by a parent with a CCW that parent would be the greatest national hero since Sully Sullenberger. That would discourage the next potential shooter as their death would have promoted another’s notoriety and name instead of promoting their own infamy. I then thought about what I had said and corrected my self. If a parent with a CCW had stopped the shooter just after the shooting started they would not be a national hero because it wouldn’t have even made the front page. They would not be the hero that saved 20 kids, because that would have never happened. The world would never know how horrible it would have been and I am just fine with that. Likewise, the Oregon CCW holder may have saved dozens with his presence. We will never know. Where is his ticker tape parade?

  15. The anti-gun crowd has a talking point for each possibility:
    A) Loon with gun gets loose in crowded place, kills X people – Antis get out and demand more gun laws to stop such tragedies even if the loon broke existing laws.
    B) Loon with gun gets loose in a crowded place, is stopped by a CCW holder – Antis get out and lament that our crowded places are turning into shooting galleries with all the guns ‘out there’ and demand gun laws to reduce the number of guns.

    • does anyone realize the statistics of gun deaths here???. For homicides and suicides, relationship problems, interpersonal conflicts, mental-health problems, and recent crises are among the primary precipitating factors for gun deaths,” NOT RANDOM VIOLENCE. The answer is helping people have better conflict resolution and dealing with mental illness, not arming each other to the hilt. i bet most of the people on this site would think that jesus would pack heat for goodness sake.

      • Jesus may not pack heat, but he sure would not be crying to disarm others. It’s that whole free will thing. 😉

  16. whether he impacted the killer or not, this guy is to be commended for his focus and his restraint. Things would have gone very badly indeed had he pulled the trigger and injured or killed a bystander. It shows that CCW holders are not the “Wild West Buckaroos” that anti-s like to paint.

  17. I have been a concealed carry permit holder since 1980. I only needed to let my would be attackers be aware that I was armed and would defend myself and an attack was averted. I was confronted by a crowd of people after my vehicle broke down across from a bar in a seedy part of Pittsburgh. I was told, “You broke down in the wrong side of town white boy!” I reached into my pocket, and without displaying my weapon, I said, “What do you mean? My permit is good anywhere in the state.” The man backed away and told his friends, “He’s cool.” as they all retreated back into the bar and left me alone. This type of thing doesn’t make the news, but happens countless times across the USA. I firmly believe my life was spared that day.

  18. they wont report this nationally – we have to. read the connecticut story. upon the first responders getting to the scene the angry “falling down” guy kills himself. clackamas – ccw confronts him, he shoots himself. these are not warriors looking for a battle. they want to spread pain and anger on the world that they feel abandoned and left out of before they exit it. in both cases once confronted they end their attack and kill themselves. it doesnt take a swat officer or a navy seal engaging these kind of mass shooters – these are young men who are not transitioning from child to adult – they feel left behind hopeless and angry -but also they never have been confronted or had a weapon pointed on them. once they do, the situation flips quickly. these are not brave people – as soon as the world pushes back on their terror they kill themselves. ccw is the answer. a ban is not the solution. look at australia. dont let the uninformed make a mistake that will cost more americans their lives later. bans only protect the criminals and they know they are not going to be resisted. look at the australian crime numbers.

  19. The shopping center has modern, comprehensive security surveillance. Most of this occurred in open areas, so they might eventually release the video.

  20. Bravo, Mr. Meli. Bravo. The story is told by the number of unfired rounds found on the killer. Why carry ’em in if you aren’t planning to use them? And why not use them unless someone stopped it? I’m glad Mr. Meli was there hasten this psycho to the final part of his plan.

  21. Who cares. Unless Mr. Melli takes down the shooter with his concealed weapon in a gun free zone, he does not help the cause of concealed carry rights. No one will ever know about this guy, nor should they. He didn’t do anything other than brandish a gun in a gun free zone. He should have used it and blew that motherfucker away. Then people would know who he is, and why we need conceal carry everywhere.

  22. Like many Americans, I grew up knowing that in my father´s closet was a rifle and a shotgun. In our early teens we were taken to a safe place and were taught to use them and to skeet shoot. Later my husband taught me how to use a pistol. None of my brothers or sisters ever went near Dad´s closet.
    I slept for years with a pistol by the bed and once when the dog rushed to a side window and started barking, I took the pistol into that room and whoever it was ran away. I was young and now would never do it.
    I don’t approve of mass selling of automatic guns because they are for killing a lot of people. So are Glocks. I read that one way of controlling illegal use of guns was to control the sale of ammunition which doesn’t seem such a bad idea. No one without a permit could easily get shells.
    I know two women who committed suicide with guns which is said to be rare because apparently statistics show that women use poison more often. And gas is very cheap and efficient but you need a lot of crazy people to use it, not just one.
    Here in Mexico it is absolutely prohibited for the citizens to have any kind of guns. So the drug lords kidnap anywhere, torture their victims, cut off their heads or just toss them on the highway. How many people do you know personally that have been kidnapped? I know quite a few. Some families paid all they had to rescue them and many did not even get a body back.
    In the States 95% of the law-breakers are in jail. In Mexico, 5% of the law-breakers are in jail.
    Of all the “solutions” I have heard, the ammunition control seems maybe the best.

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