'We had a single mission and we were focused on that'
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CLACKAMAS, Ore. - Imagine what it's like to get a call that there is a shooter on the loose in the mall, perhaps even two of them, and it's your job to find them and defuse the situation.
On Tuesday, 22-year-old Jacob Roberts walked into the Clackamas Town Center with an AR-15 rifle and opened fire. As the chaos unfolded, there was a rush of 9-1-1 calls and it didn't take long for law enforcement to arrive.
Deputy John Gibson with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office was one of the first ones to walk through the mall doors as terrified people were running in the opposite direction.
And he didn't know exactly what he would find once he got inside.
"When we first got there we had reports of two different masked people at the mall," he said. "And as it turns out there had been, but they were completely unrelated. But it sounded like we had two masked potential shooters at the mall."
Sgt. Scott Anderson, also with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, said the radios were going crazy and some of the initial reports were not reliable. But he and the others who were first on the scene did not know that at the time.
"When I went in, I had reports that Santa Claus had been shot and there was a child shot in the food court," Anderson said. "Those turned out to be false but those were the kinds of updates we were getting as we were going in."
Now think about how big the mall is - there is over a million square feet of space that had to be searched and cleared.
"That's huge - it's enormous," said Sgt. Robert Wurpes, another first responder. "It's hard to wrap your head around. You are somewhat confident as you are clearing through there, but you know you are missing a lot. There's always that potential for something to sneak up behind you and that was of great concern."
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What You Might Not Know There also could have been a fire for emergency responders to contend with. When the shots rang out, food workers rushed to hide and left everything turned on, including stoves and ovens. |
"We had a single mission and we were focused on that," said Anderson. "I was aware of the chaos around me, but it wasn't confusing because we were all super focused on finding the shooter and stopping him - and that was it."
These guys are trained for this type of volatile situation and knew exactly what to do. They've even trained at the Clackamas Town Center for just such an event.
"The same doors that I used for this real mission were the same doors that we had used for the scenarios and mock missions," said Gibson. "So for me, it was deja vu. I'd been here before. I knew what had to happen and it just made sense."
"Our training paid off," Wurpes said. "It makes me take training more seriously. It makes me think about what we can do to prepare better for the next event."
The first responders talked about their experiences on Friday, the same day that a gunman went on a killing spree at a school in Connecticut. Their hearts are going out to that community, which is dealing with a similar, but much worse, situation.
"It's horrible," said Wurpes. "There's just no two ways to say that. It's just horrible. And it's just horrible to think about."
"It angers me," said Gibson. "Especially when we're talking about innocent men, women and children that aren't there to defend themselves or have the ability to defend themselves. Just the cowardness of it. It just angers me. It's senseless."
From left to right - Sgt. Robert Wurpes, Sgt. Scott Anderson and Deputy John Gibson.
I want to thank all the first responders that went in. You go in blind and never know what you are going to find. My heartfelt thanks and prayers to all of you that do this day in and day out and do not ask anything in return. And to your families as I know what it is like to be married to a police office and wonder if they will ever come home. I was very lucky to have mine come home every night.
The police, by all serious accounts, did the absolute best they could. I salute them.
This is a time for compassion for our fellow man. These debates can be held later.
Later? Should have been held years ago. The NRA should be labeled a "Terrorist Organization."
"...and it's your job to find them and diffuse the situation..."
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ATTN: Shannon Cheesman, KATU Staff
The word is defuse (or de-fuse, if you prefer), not "diffuse."
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Also, with today's horrific events in Connecticut, I think it is time to move on unless there is really something substantive to add. The media have played this pretty much out.
Ok everyone..on the count of three..let's all overreact and claim that taking guns away from people who legally own them and responsibly possess them will make a difference, and it will stop or even diminish mass shootings. The fact is, it won't make any difference at all. A sick, sadistic person who wants to kill people will not be prevented from getting weapons if he really wants to. Laws written on paper and created by people voting won't do a ____ thing. It's absolute lunacy to believe that gun control is going to stop the kinds of things that happened today. Creating stronger laws against drugs has accomplished what? Trying to control people's sex drives has done what? Go drive down Sexame Street..errrr..Barbur Blvd. Sick people will do whatever their sickness tells them to, and there's nothing you can do to stop that through legislation. The only way to save lives, is to kill the sicko, before he's able to get off the number of rounds he wants to fire. Be more vigilant..more wary, and have a weapon that levels the playing field at the moment in the time that it's needed. I can't wait for the time when someone with a CHL is at the right place, and the right time..and he or she gets to kill the perp before the coward takes it's own life.
That will be news worth watching. Have a nice night. :-) Â
"I can't wait for the time when someone with a CHL is at the right place, and the right time"
Well, you are still waiting, and so are the rest of us.Â
 @Mechanic The problem is that even if you are in the mall with a CH, (I've had one every time I've been in the mall for the last five years), the "right place and the right time" is the key. If some guy is standing in the middle of a food court, you can't just open fire. Interestingly enough, given the amount of alleged CHL holders in Oregon, nobody did.The idea that a bunch of gun-toters are just going to open fire into a big circle has, historically, never materialized. In the meantime, we are also waiting for NON gun carriers to solve the problem.
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Stop pointing fingers at each other.
@Playanekes I agree, the whole finger pointing thing is fruitless. I heard an interview on the news this morning a guy was in position with a weapon (chl) behind a pillar, and when the shooter saw him, and that he had a weapon, he turned the rifle on himself.
The little story in the box about food left in the oven, burning, while this whole horrific scene is being played out shows that this could have been far, far worse!
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Thanks for pulling out the burnt pretzels!
"Deputy John Gibson with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office was one of the first ones to walk through the mall doors as terrified people were running in the opposite direction."
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The definition of a "first responder".
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People give grief all the time to police and fire unions for asking for pensions and salary increases. But this is why they ask. This is what we demand of them.
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Firefighters walking into burning building with people streaming out. Law enforcement walking into mass with gunfire while people flee.
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