Mall shooting spree 'a random attack'

A family embrace after a gunman opened fire on Christmas shoppers at Clackamas Town Centre mall in Oregon, killing two people before turning the gun on himself. Source: AP

THE US mall shooting that left three dead and forced hundreds of Christmas shoppers to hide or flee appears to have been a random attack, authorities say.

The masked gunman, who was one of the three dead, was seemingly targeting "anyone who was in his line of sight," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts told the US Today show.

"It was very apparent that he had a mission set forth to really take the lives of people in that mall," Mr Roberts said.

Police said they have tentatively identified the gunman but would not release his name.

The shooting on Tuesday afternoon local time at the busy Portland, Oregon, mall started shortly after a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest said, "I am the shooter," as if announcing himself, said Austin Patty, 20, who works at a mall department store.

Witnesses are interviewed by a Clackamas County deputy outside the mall. Police say the attack by a masked gunman appears to be random.

A series of rapid-fire shots followed as Christmas music continued to play. Ms Patty said he ducked and then ran.

Witnesses said the suspect fired several times near the mall food court until the rifle jammed and he dropped a magazine onto the floor and ran into the Macy's department store.

Some were close enough to the shooter to feel the percussion of his gun.

"I saw a gentleman face down, obviously shot in the head," said Jason DeCosta, the manager of company with a display on the mall's ground floor.

This still image from video courtesy of KATU.COM shows emergency vehicles outside the Clackamas Town Centre south of Portland, Oregon. Police said the attack appeared to be random.

"A lot of blood. You could tell there was nothing you could do for him."

Mr DeCosta said he also saw a woman on the floor who had been shot in the chest.

Officials said a woman was also shot and was in serious condition at a Portland hospital.

"We have a young lady in the hospital fighting for her life right now," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said at a news conference late on Tuesday.

Reports of two people dead after a shooting inside Clackamas Town Center shopping mall in Oregon. Source Fox News

Clackamas County sheriff's Lieutenant James Rhodes said the gunman was dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities went store-to-store to confirm that there was only one shooter, Mr Rhodes said.

The mall Santa, Brance Wilson, said he heard gunshots and dove for the floor. By the time he looked up, seconds later, everyone around him had cleared out. Parents with children joined other shoppers rushing to stores' backrooms for safety.

"Santa will be back," Mr Wilson said. "It's not going to keep Santa away from the mall."

Onlookers wait for news outside the Clackamas Town Centre mall, where a gunman opened fire on afternoon shoppers.

Shaun Wik, 20, said he was Christmas shopping with his girlfriend and opened a fortune cookie at the food court. Inside was written: "Live for today. Remember yesterday. Think of tomorrow."

As he read it, he heard three shots. He heard a man he believes was the gunman shout, "Get down!" but Mr Wik and his girlfriend ran. He heard seven or eight more shots. He didn't turn around.

"If I had looked back, I might not be standing here," Mr Wik said.

Kira Rowland told KGW-TV that she was shopping at the Macy's store with her infant son when the shots started.

Mall workers and shoppers wait to be cleared to leave the mall after the gunman killed two people and then himself.

''All of a sudden you hear two shots, which sounded like balloons popping,'' Ms Rowland told the station.

''Everybody got on the ground. I grabbed the baby from the stroller and got on the ground.''

Ms Rowland said she heard people screaming and crying.

''I put the baby back in the stroller and ran like hell,'' Rowland said. ''It was awful. It was shots after shots after shots like a massacre. It was just awful.''

Shoppers who witnessed the shooting comfort one another. Picture: Twitter/Joel Iwanaga

Holli Bautista, 28, said she was shopping in the Macy's for a Christmas dress for her daughter when she heard two or three pops that sounded like firecrackers.

''I heard people running and screaming and saying 'Get out, there's somebody shooting,'' she said.

''It was a scene of chaos.''

Hundreds of shoppers and mall employees started running, and she and dozens of other people were trying to escape through an exit in the department store, she said.

Fox News talks to a mother and two daughters who fled the scene where a gunman opened fire on shoppers in Oregon. Source Fox News

With AP

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