Washington: The US police have identified the masked gunman who fatally shot two people at a crowded Oregon mall before killing himself minutes later as Jacob Tyler Roberts.
Roberts, 22, was armed with a stolen AR-15 semi-automatic weapon, Sheriff Craig Roberts told a news conference, and was not wearing a bullet-proof vest as previously reported.
The sheriff told ‘Good Morning America’ the gunman was intent on killing ‘as many people as possible’.
"At this time we do not understand the motive of this attack except to say no apparent relationship between suspect and victims," the sheriff said at the news conference.
According to ABC News, witness said that the shooter, wearing a white hockey mask and black clothing, tore through the mall just before 3:30 pm on Tuesday, entering through a Macy`s store and heading to the food court and public areas spraying bullets.
"We have been able to identify the shooter over this last night," Roberts said.
"I believe, at least from the information that`s been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible," he added.
Police said that Roberts had stolen the gun from someone he knew, and was equipped with a load bearing vest and ‘several’ fully loaded magazines.
Police are still trying to determine how many shots were fired.
Roberts, who attended Clackamas Community college, said on his Facebook page that he worked in a gyro shop in downtown Portland and posted a picture of himself firing a gun at a target.
His Facebook photo showed graffiti in which the words ‘Follow Your Dreams’ were painted over with the word ‘Cancelled’, the report said.
Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting and said they are still piecing together the suspect’s actions leading up to it, the report added.
ANI
