Yesterday at the Clackamas Town Center mall in Oregon a shooter killed two, injured one, and then apparently took his own life. I lived in Oregon for many years, and I spent a bit of time at that mall over those years. I know the area around the food court where the shootings took place.
At this time LE has not released the identity of the shooter or the deceased individuals, nor have they released any details on what he was wearing or what firearm was used. Reports make it sound like an AR-15 (semi-automatic), and that he may have been wearing a “tactical” vest with magazine pouches.
The problem is that you have lots of “witnesses”, but how many of them are trained or have any real experience? We will have to wait for those details to be formally released.
What I want to cover is the immediate, first-hand reports from people that were in the mall. There are some lessons that you can learn from what they reported.
Most of the following details come from the following reports from the Oregonian news paper at these URL’s…
From the first report that had something worthy of note…
“Fourteen-year-old Hannah Baggs looked directly at the Clackamas Town Center gunman just moments before he entered the mall and opened fire.
“He was, like, 10 feet away from us, wearing a white mask and carrying something heavy with both hands,” said Hannah, a freshman at LaSalle High School. “He went running into the store. I was scared, but I didn’t tell my mom because I didn’t want to get her upset.”
Even though she’s only 14, this young woman saw something that made her feel alarmed. Where she failed was to act on that feeling. If you see something that isn’t right, that’s out of place for where you are, or that just makes you feel uneasy, you need to act on that feeling and “get out of Dodge”. She should have told her mother about it, and got out right then. Instead, they waited for the shooting to start. They did make it out, and they did the right thing – went to their car as fast as possible and got out of the area before the police responded.
You may be asking why that last part is important? If you read my Blog, you will find an entry detailing what I would have done if I was at Trolley Square (a mall in Utah where a shooting happened a few years ago). In that article, I explained that I would NOT have engaged the shooter unless he came between me and my family, or if he came between us and safety (which I defined as getting out of the mall, to our car, and away from the site as fast as possible – before the police have a chance to respond). You do NOT want to be there when the police arrive, especially if you are carrying a concealed firearm. You can read that entry below for more details on what can go wrong.
That part aside, what happens to the “witnesses”?
In the Trolley Square case, they were held for quite a while in the cold, wet weather. Some families were marched out with their hands in the air. This happened again in the case in Oregon. YOU do not want to be there. They already have enough information on what happened, you being there and keeping your family in the cold, wet weather for an extended time will not help.
In this case, there are several reports of this…
“Hours after the shooting started, Armstrong was still waiting outside the mall to get to her car.”
“Immediately after the shooting, police officers began locking down the massive mall and blocking exits. While four SWAT teams conducted a store-by-store search of the 1.4 million square-foot mall, air traffic above the mall was restricted so helicopter ambulances could land.”
The mall’s theaters, full of theater-goers unaware of the chaos outside, were escorted to safety.
At same time, several TriMet buses were called to take witnesses away for orderly interviews by police. Regular bus service was suspended on TriMet’s 28, 29, 30, 31, 71, 72, 79, 152, 155 and 156 lines. “
You do NOT want to get separated from your family and taken away by the police in a bus to be interviewed.
In such a situation, IMMEDIATELY get yourself and your family out of the mall via the nearest safe route, get to your car, and get out of Dodge before the police respond.
However, keep in mind that even though YOU may have a plan and a goal, others may actively work to thwart your plan even if only inadvertently.
“Pavlenko took a breath and found her strength. She grabbed her cellphone and ran for the nearest exit, where a crush of confused food court workers had gathered, crying and asking what had happened.
Pavlenko ran out the door and downstairs without her purse or car keys, her work T-shirt offering little protection from the rain.
That’s when her boss, Katrina Onishchenko, the owner of the five-month-old business, spotted her across the parking lot. She tried to reach her, but could not get through the maze of police cars and crime scene tape. ”
and
“Shoppers, employees and witnesses ran for the parking lots. Stores were locked down. Cell phone circuits became overloaded. Interstate 205 and neighboring streets backed up with traffic. ”
“Susie Santos, 39, of Oregon City was trapped in Payless while shopping. The employees locked the shoppers in.”
and
“A staff worker at Panera Bread Co. was standing by the front door, not letting people in or out, Garcia said.”
Part of good situational awareness is knowing the overall layout around you. Be aware of the locations of emergency exits, and keep your head on a swivel. While store policy may be to lock the store down – that may not be the best thing to do given the tactical situation. While they may be well meaning (or may be acting as minimum-wage automatons), you may have to work around employees if you can see the situation going badly.
Reports said that mall security ordered all of the gates between store entrances and the mall closed – but those gates won’t stop bullets. They may also trap the shooter in with you. You may need to be very dynamic in getting your family out of there, so be looking for options.
And if you are wondering – in this situation using the fire exit IS acceptable.
I’ll post more later, but I wanted to get these first thoughts out there. The best time for education is while the incident is fresh in our minds.
James Bell Jr – iCarryUtah.com