US News

Mall madman stole rifle

PORTLAND, Ore. — The gunman who killed two people and himself in a shooting rampage at an Oregon mall was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said yesterday.

Jacob Tyler Roberts had armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at a mall near Portland on Tuesday, said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.

The sheriff said the rifle jammed during the killer’s attack, but he managed to get it working again. He later shot himself. Authorities don’t yet have a motive, but don’t believe he was targeting specific people.

Two people — a 54-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man — were killed, and another, Kristina Shevchenko, 15, was wounded and in serious condition yesterday.

Roberts, wearing a hockey-style face mask, parked his car in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy’s and walked briskly through the store, into the mall, and began firing randomly, police said.

He fatally shot Steven Mathew Forsyth of West Linn and Cindy Ann Yuille of Portland, the sheriff said.

He then turned the gun on himself.