Authorities have identified the gunman who killed two people and himself in a shooting rampage at an Oregon mall.
Investigators said Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, used a stolen rifle from someone he knew to kill a woman, 54, and a man, 45.
When some members of Columbia’s SWAT Team first saw the video of this tragedy, they envisioned it happening at the Columbia Mall.
SWAT Team Commander Scott Young said you can never be completely prepared for a lone gunman attack at a mall.
Roberts had armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at a Portland mall on Tuesday. Young said if this happened at the Columbia Mall, shoppers would be the first ones to protect themselves.
Young said, “It’s not a matter of being a hero. What choice do you have? If your choice is to sit on the floor and wait to die or hit this guy with a folding a chair, an I-Pod or a potted plant or whatever you have available to you. That’s not a matter of being a hero. That’s a matter of self-preservation and the preservation of other innocent people around you.”
Columbia Mall security officers do not carry guns. They do work closely with area law enforcement agencies during an emergency.
Columbia Mall General Manager Rusty Strodtman said, “We utilize the Columbia Police Department very heavily. We utilize their resources to make sure that if they see anything that we could do better or change, we definitely want to utilize their knowledge and expertise in this area.”
Most incidents like the one in Portland are over in just a few minutes. The shooters usually commit suicide, if they are not killed by the arriving officers.
The Oregon shooter did not have a criminal record. Authorities said they will probably never know the motive for the attack, an attack that could happen at any mall at any time.
Columbia Mall officials said this is a tragic situation and their thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.
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