On December 11, 2012, a shooting occurred at the
Clackamas Town Center
Clackamas Town Center is a shopping mall established in 1981Sorenson, Donald J. (March 7, 1981). "Clackamas Town Center opens its doors". '' The Oregonian'', p. A19. in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, located on unincorporated land in the ...
in the relatively urban section of
Clackamas County
Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...
, just outside the city of
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, United States. The gunman, 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts, ran into the shopping center wearing black clothing and a white expressionless facial mask and sporadically opened fire using a
Stag Arms AR-15
An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...
rifle stolen from a friend. He fired a total of 17 shots, killing two people and seriously wounding a third. Many shots were ricochets. Having attempted to reload his weapon and dropping three magazines, Roberts entered an employee-only back stairwell that runs behind all stores in the mall and committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
after descending one level. He had no connection to any of his victims, and it was believed to be a senseless and random act of violence.
Details
Prior to the shooting
Sometime prior to the shooting, Roberts is stated to have stolen a
Stag Arms STAG-15
AR-15-style rifle from an acquaintance. Immediately before the shooting, he visited a friend who lived two miles away from the Clackamas Town Center, smoked
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
with him, and claimed that he was moving to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
He drove to the mall sometime later and parked at the south side between
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
and
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (, ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. Chipotle operates restaurants in the Uni ...
. He ran into the mall through Macy's department store at 3:28 p.m.,
wearing a white expressionless facial mask and dressed in a black sweater and black pants. He was armed with the AR-15. He was also carrying five loaded magazines, one of which he accidentally dropped in the parking lot while entering the mall.
Roberts legally bought four additional standard-capacity 30-round ammunition magazines and the ammunition to fill them at three local stores, including a
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, The Gunbroker, and Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters. When he stole the unsecured AR-15 from a friend, it was loaded with a standard-capacity 30-round ammunition magazine. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people were inside the mall at the time. People who first saw him run into the mall believed the tactical clothing and hockey mask were a
paintball
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
outfit and that the rifle was a toy.
["Clackamas Town Center shooting: 22 minutes of chaos and terror as a gunman meanders through the mall"](_blank)
/ref>
Shooting
Standing in a large atrium, Roberts first opened fire at the mall's food court that was across from him at his left. The first person shot was 54-year-old shopper Cindy Ann Yuille, a hospice nurse and mother of two who was shot in the back; she died despite efforts of bystanders to treat her wound. Fifteen-year-old Kristina Shevchenko, who was walking through the mall with her friend to reach the Town Center MAX station, was the second person to be shot; she received a bullet to the chest, but she survived and made it out of the mall, where she was treated for her gunshot wound. The final victim was 45-year-old father-of-two and youth sports coach Steven Forsyth, who was sitting by a rented kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
and talking with his father on his cell phone when he was shot in the head and killed.
At this point, hundreds of people fled the mall after hearing the gunshots, but many remained inside and dashed to cover. Roberts headed further toward the food court, firing at 16-year-old employee Alina Pavlenko, who was over 100 feet away, but missed. He also dropped three other magazines in his possession. He then turned back and headed toward a JCPenney
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...
store. He attempted to reload the AR-15 at that point, but was unable to do so, the weapon having apparently jammed. During that time, Nick Meli, a concealed carry
Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pre ...
permit holder, drew his Glock 22
Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...
, claimed to have taken aim at Roberts, but did not fire since there was a bystander behind Roberts. Meli claims that Roberts saw him and that this may have contributed to Roberts' decision to commit suicide.
Shooting ends
Roberts then ran into a back storage corridor, where he encountered employee Rok Sang Kim, who had returned from recycling boxes and therefore hadn't heard the gunfire. Roberts pointed the rifle at him, but didn't shoot him, instead running down a flight of stairs onto a lower floor. There, he committed suicide at 3:50 p.m. In the chaos of the first few minutes after the shooting, there were expectations of mass casualties. Police responded to the scene minutes later and spent the following hours searching the mall for hiding civilians, injured victims, and a possible second shooter, while dozens of ambulances arrived with the expectations of treating dozens of wounded victims, but treated only Kristina Shevchenko for a serious gunshot wound. Roberts fired only seventeen rounds during the entire shooting, including the one to kill himself. An additional 128 rounds were found in the magazines he dropped and on his person.
By the next day, the mall was cleared of civilians, but continued to remain under lock-down. It is believed Roberts targeted random people and did not have a specific target in mind.
Victims
Two people were killed in the shooting, 54-year-old Cindy Ann Yuille and 45-year-old Steven Forsyth. A third person, 15-year-old Kristina Shevchenko, was shot in the side of the chest and seriously injured, but survived. Several others also suffered minor bruises and scrapes suffered while fleeing.
Perpetrator
Jacob Tyler Roberts (March 16, 1990 – December 11, 2012) was identified as the sole perpetrator of the shooting. He lived in the Lents neighborhood in southeast Portland. Roberts was raised by his aunt Tami Roberts; his biological mother, Teresa Anne Roberts, died from cancer in February 1993, shortly before his third birthday. Court records and family indicated that the identity of his father is unknown. He had been estranged from his aunt Tami Roberts since the time he was 18 years of age, though the aunt declined to comment on the reason, saying only that it was unrelated to an $18,000 inheritance from Roberts's grandmother that court documents allegedly show Tami Roberts misappropriated. He attended Milwaukie High School
Milwaukie High School is a public high school located in Milwaukie, Oregon, United States. It is one of seven high schools within the North Clackamas School District. The school's mascot is the mustang, and its colors are maroon and gold.
Histo ...
in Milwaukie, Oregon
Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city ...
for the first three years and later transferred during his senior year to Oregon City High School
Oregon City High School is a public high school in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States in Oregon City, Oregon, a suburb south of Portland, Oregon, Portland.
History
Oregon City High School was established in 1885 on the lower ...
in Oregon City, Oregon
)
, image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845
, image_flag =
, image_seal = Oregon City seal.png
, image_map ...
, graduating in 2008. He attended Clackamas Community College
Clackamas Community College (CCC) is a public community college in Oregon City, Oregon. Founded in 1966, it is one of the largest community colleges in the state of Oregon. Clackamas Community College offers courses at three campuses: the centr ...
in 2009.
Prior to the shooting, Roberts worked at a Portland gyro
Gyro may refer to:
Science and technology
* GYRO, a computer program for tokamak plasma simulation
* Gyro Motor Company, an American aircraft engine manufacturer
* ''Gyrodactylus salaris'', a parasite in salmon
* Gyroscope, an orientation-sta ...
restaurant, Big Bertha's on S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., a popular late-night eatery in the infamous "Barmuda Triangle" known for six hard pouring bars within a two-block radius. He was loved by his employer, as well as many friends.[ Roberts lived with a few roommates in a house ten minutes away from the shopping center. He had plans of joining the ]United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, but he abandoned these dreams after a bicycle accident that broke his foot. Over the month prior to the shooting, Jacob had slowly sold his belongings, including a legal handgun, resigned from his job at the gyro shop, and told his friends and colleagues that he was planning to move to Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. He told several friends the Friday before the shooting he had missed his flight and told them he had rebooked it. He also purchased at least four magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from local stores during that same timeline.
Reaction
When President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
delivered a speech regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...
, he mentioned other shooting rampages that occurred in the U.S. within previous months, including the incident at the Clackamas Town Center. On March 28, 2013, a candlelight vigil
A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to show support for a specific cause. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of ...
was held at the mall, organized against gun violence and one of more than 120 events held nationwide to commemorate the National Day of Action to Reduce Gun Violence.["Candlelight vigil against gun violence to be held tonight at Clackamas Town Center"](_blank)
/ref>
References
{{reflist
2012 in Oregon
2012 murders in the United States
Attacks in the United States in 2012
Attacks on buildings and structures in the United States
Clackamas County, Oregon
Crimes in Oregon
Deaths by firearm in Oregon
December 2012 crimes in the United States
Defensive gun use
Murder in Oregon
Murder–suicides in Oregon
Attacks on shopping malls
Suicides by firearm in Oregon