One day after a masked gunman killed two people and himself in a crowded Oregon shopping mall filled with holiday shoppers, authorities have identified the shooting suspect.
Clackamas Town Center was a stark scene Tuesday after a man with a hockey mask, now identified as Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, opened as many as 60 rounds of fire at the packed mall just outside of Portland.
The shooting took the lives of two people, and hospitalizing a third with bullet wounds, authorities told the New York Times.
The victims have been identified as Steven Matthew Forsyth, 45 and Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, while Kirstina Shevchenko, 15, was revealed as the wounded victim, authorities said.
Witnesses told ABC News that sometime after 3 p.m., they saw a young man who appeared to be a teenager running through the upper level of Macy's to the food court of the mall--which had 10,000 people inside that day, according to police--as he fired multiple shots, one right after the other, with what police officials have identified as an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, which was used primarily by U.S. military personnel.
"I didn't know where the gunman was, so I decided to kind of eased my way out," said 68-year-old Brance Wilson, who was working as a mall Santa.
However, according to Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts, the shooter didn't appear to be looking for any specific target during his mall rampage.
"It looked as though it was a random shooting," Roberts told NBC's Today on Wednesday. "It's very apparent he had a mission set forth to take the lives of people in that mall."
According to Fox News, police say Roberts shot himself as police converged on him, the wound proving fatal.
"Every indication that we have at this point is that he acted alone in this," Roberts said at a news conference held Wednesday afternoon.
Police officials say that Black has "no significant criminal history," and while he has had several encounters with police, none of them were criminal.
According to preliminary findings, law enforcement officials have located one weapon, AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and multiple rounds of ammunition inside the mall. While previous reports had speculated that Black had a military background, police had not uncovered anything to confirm that.
"Every indication that we have is that he acted on his own in committing this heinous, horrible, tragic crime," Roberts said.
The family of Schevchenko has set up a Facebook page giving updates on the shooting, asking for donations to help the wounded teenager.
According to her family, Schevchenko was said to be doing well after the first operation, as "none of the vital organs were hit and she is doing well after the first operation. she will have a couple more operations in the following week. we thank you for you prayers and your support."
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