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Oregon mall shooting: teenage girl in serious condition after two shot dead Oregon mall shooting: teenage girl in serious condition after two shot dead
(about 2 hours later)
A teenage girl wounded in a shooting spree at an Oregon shopping mall that left three dead, including the suspected gunman, is in serious condition, a hospital official said on Wednesday.A teenage girl wounded in a shooting spree at an Oregon shopping mall that left three dead, including the suspected gunman, is in serious condition, a hospital official said on Wednesday.
Kristina Shevchenko was one of at least three people shot when a man wearing what appeared to be a hockey mask opened fire with a rifle at the crowded Clackamas Town Center in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley. The news comes as authorities say the gunman appeared to have acted in a blind rampage with no known motive.
Police will release the names of the victims and the shooter at a news press conference at 10am PT on Wednesday, Clackamas County under-sheriff Matt Ellington said on CNN. Shevchenko's name was released by the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital on authorization of her family. The Tuesday afternoon shooting frenzy at the Clackamas Town Center in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley triggered pandemonium inside the mall at the height of the busy holiday season, sending thousands of shoppers streaming out of the complex as authorities arrived on the scene.
"The family is doing OK," Shevchenko's brother, Yevgeniy, said. He said his sister was 15 years old and declined further comment. Two people were shot to death and the lone gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police were expected to release the identities of the dead at a news conference in the nearby town of Clackamas on Wednesday.
In a Facebook posting Tuesday night, Yevgeniy Shevchenko said: "As of now she is stable and sleeping. The bullet went trough bruising her lung; it missed any vital organs and it missed her ribs. She will need two more operations. We appreciate any and all support including your prayers! Thank you." The 15-year-old girl wounded in the attack was identified as Kristina Shevchenko.
Ellington said on CNN that police have recovered a rifle, multiple shell casings and a mask matching the one witnesses said was worn by the shooter. "The family is doing OK," said her brother, Yevgeniy, declining to comment further.
He said authorities have no idea of the motive of the gunman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and appears to have had no connection to the victims. In a Facebook posting on Tuesday night, he said: "As of now she is stable and sleeping. The bullet went [through] bruising her lung, it missed any vital organs and it missed her ribs. She will need two more operations. We appreciate any and all support including your prayers! Thank you."
The afternoon rampage touched off panic inside the mall, sending thousands of shoppers streaming out as police and fire crews arrived. Authorities remained baffled at what led the suspect to open fire in the mall, the latest in a flurry of US gun violence this year, most notably the killing of 12 people and wounding of 58 others at a midnight screening of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado in July.
The incident marked the latest in a string of shooting attack this year that included the killing of 12 people and wounding of 58 at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado. "It did not appear as though he was targeting any specific individuals," Clackamas county sheriff Craig Roberts told the Today show. "It really looked as though it was a random shooting."
In Oregon, police evacuated terrified shoppers, who were reported by local media and via Twitter to have hidden in the back rooms of shops as gunshots rang out in the 1.4m sq ft mall. Asked what may have motivated him to carry out the attack, Roberts said: "He had a mission set forth to take the lives of people at that mall." Roberts added that he believed the shooting only came to a halt after the gun jammed.
Undersheriff Matt Ellington said on CNN that police had recovered a rifle, multiple shell casings and a mask matching the one witnesses said was worn by the shooter. He said the gunman had no known connection to those he shot.
Police converging on the mall on Tuesday evacuated terrified shoppers, who were reported by local media and via Twitter to have hidden in the back rooms of shops as gunshots rang out in the 1.4m-square-foot mall.
High school student Hannah Baggs, 14, told the Oregonian newspaper that she got a close look at the gunman before he entered the mall and opened fire.High school student Hannah Baggs, 14, told the Oregonian newspaper that she got a close look at the gunman before he entered the mall and opened fire.
"He was, like, 10ft away from us, wearing a white mask and carrying something heavy with both hands," Baggs said in a report on the newspaper's website. "He went running into the store." "He was, like, 10 feet away from us, wearing a white mask and carrying something heavy with both hands," Baggs said in a report on the newspaper's website. "He went running into the store."
Police and Swat teams established a perimeter around the scene and worked to evacuate the mall as they searched for the gunman. Video footage from inside the mall, aired on CNN, showed shoppers heading toward exits with their arms raised above their heads.Police and Swat teams established a perimeter around the scene and worked to evacuate the mall as they searched for the gunman. Video footage from inside the mall, aired on CNN, showed shoppers heading toward exits with their arms raised above their heads.
Ellington said the Clackamas Town Center mall had been used recently by police for a mass evacuation drill.Ellington said the Clackamas Town Center mall had been used recently by police for a mass evacuation drill.