Injury dashed mall shooter's hope of being Marine

December 14, 2012 @ 12:45 am


This photo provided by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department shows Jacob Tyler Roberts, the suspect in a shooting at an Oregon Mall on Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Roberts, who killed two people and himself in the shooting rampage, was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said Wednesday. Roberts had armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at a Portland mall on Tuesday, said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts. (AP Photo/Clackamas County Sheriff's Department) | Zoom
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Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - His mother died before he was 3 years old, and he was estranged from the aunt who raised him. His dream of becoming a Marine was dashed by a broken foot, he hadn't yet settled on a career path, and a new plan, to move to Hawaii, ended when he apparently missed his flight.

None of it, however, reveals a motive in Jacob Tyler Roberts' decision to put on a hockey-style mask, walk into a Portland mall and randomly shoot three strangers, killing two and wounding a third, before committing suicide.

In the days since Tuesday's rampage, friends, relatives and neighbors have all said Roberts was a relaxed, friendly and outgoing guy. Police have yet to reveal if the young man known to all as Jake wrote a suicide note or left some hint of the violence he would unleash.

"Of everyone in my entire life, if I could put them on a list of how crazy they are, how likely they are to snap, I'd put him at the very bottom," said Jaime Eheler, 26, the gunman's close friend and roommate. "He'd be the very last person."

The Clackamas County sheriff's office said Roberts had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at the mall as thousands did their Christmas shopping. Roberts parked his 1996 Volkswagen Jetta in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy's. He then walked through the store into the mall and began firing randomly in the food court, authorities said.

He fatally shot Steven Mathew Forsyth, 45, and Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, the sheriff said. Kristina Shevchenko, 15, was wounded and in serious condition Thursday.

Eheler said her friend had a "weird look on his face" when he left their house.

"My living room is right by the front door. He was walking out (and) he gave me this look, and I asked him, `Hey, what's up?' And he said he'll talk to me about it when he gets back," she said, breaking down in tears.

Eheler said she later learned that Roberts had stopped at her brother Tyler's home on the way to the mall. Tyler Eheler and Roberts had been best friends since high school, she said.

"He came in and hung out for a minute and told him that he had to go and that he didn't want to," Eheler said, adding that Roberts gave her brother a bracelet that he always wore, and hugged him.

Eheler said Roberts had recently quit his job at a Portland gyro shop, sold all of his belongings, and put his car up for sale on Craigslist in advance of his planned move to Hawaii. Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, told ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" that he was supposed to catch a flight Saturday but he got drunk and missed it.

The owner of Big Bertha's gyro shop threw a going-away party for him last week.

"His nickname there at the shop was `The Kid,'" said Thomas Illk, father of Tommy Illk, who owns the shop. "Tommy is just devastated. He was like a little brother to him."

According to his Facebook page, Roberts' friends were his family.

The identity of Roberts' father is unknown, according to relatives and court records. His mother, Teresa Anne Roberts, died from cancer in February 1993. She had turned 22 on Dec. 10, 1992 _ almost 20 years to the day before her 22-year-old son took his own life.

Tami Roberts, Roberts' aunt, said she believes the timing was a coincidence and the shootings had nothing to do with the anniversary of her sister's birth.

"Every day, his whole life, I was proud of him. I'm just not proud of him right now," she said Thursday.

Tami Roberts became Roberts' guardian when his mother died shortly before his third birthday. The two had a falling out when he turned 18, and had not spoken in four years.

Tami Roberts said she tried to contact her nephew many times but declined to say why he refused to speak with her and ultimately blocked her on Facebook.

Court documents show Tami Roberts misappropriated $18,000 that Jacob Roberts received in an inheritance from his grandmother when he was a young teen. She said that was not the reason for the estrangement.

Tami Roberts showed reporters numerous photos from happier times, including one showing the pair with matching tattoos. She said Roberts injured his foot in 2007 when he tried to jump over a Dumpster on a bicycle. The injury ended Jake's hope of joining the Marines, and that made him "angry," Tami Roberts said.

"Then he didn't know what to do with his life," she said.

The last time Tami Roberts saw her nephew was in a parking lot a few months ago.

"I was telling him how much I love him, how proud I am of him, and how much I miss him," Tami Roberts said. "And then he took off. He just rode off on his bike. He didn't even say anything to me, but I know he heard every word I said."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Tim Fought, Jonathan J. Cooper, Nigel Duara, and Sarah Skidmore in Portland, and Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., along with researcher Rhonda Shafner.

___

Follow Steven DuBois at http://www.twitter.com/pdxdub.

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(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (51)


  • Add A Comment

  • murr wrote...
    I want to hear how the gun went off on its own ???
    December 12, 2012 3:54 am
    Or was their a person shooting it ????
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • taxslave wrote...
    Because there is no way.....
    December 12, 2012 5:35 am
    In a crowded mall that anyone could kill 2 people and injure a third before being stopped with a steak knife... Blame the gun, not the piece of garbage behind it. You're going to need a bigger bandaid for your bleeding heart. This shooter could have been "saved" had he only not taken his own life.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    I hope they don't print
    December 12, 2012 5:46 am
    The guys name and picture. It will just make another loser infamous. He should remain an anonymous coward.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    I do want to know who the killer was
    December 12, 2012 5:59 am
    but not for morbid curiosity or to glorify him. Speculation is that it is just another "nut" like Batman in Colorado (even though two years ago a Muslim extremist tried to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland). If it does turn out to be another "nut", we should find out who had previous contact with him and how he got his weapon.

    We do know that this Department of Justice has in the past allowed this same style of weapon to "walk" into the hands of criminals in order that they would turn up at crime scenes to create fear in the public conscience for the purpose of curtailing the constitutional rights of law abiding Americans. These same people are still in power and have four more years to accomplish their goals.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    Don't believe first reports Paul
    December 12, 2012 6:10 am
    Most of the time they are wrong. Most reporter don't even know the difference between a machine gun, an assault rifle, or a semi-auto hunting rifle.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    true enough DesertRez...and I don't
    December 12, 2012 6:26 am
    just last week we had headlines here about "shots ringing out in the U District". Turns out a window was shot out by a pellet gun.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    " to create fear in the public conscience"
    December 12, 2012 9:28 am
    So that's what the Bush administration was doing when they were gun walking?

    Better get some more foil. The radio waves are getting through.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    you don't even believe that Drool
    December 12, 2012 10:19 am
    unless you are really that far over the edge. One more time....

    Operation Wide Receiver was completely different than F&F and guns were not "lost" or sent across the border. It was shut down when it became clear that guns would be too difficult to track and some might end up in the wrong hands. That did not stop the Obama administration from starting up F&F, since they had no intention of tracking them in the first place. F&F worked exactly as it was intended, up until the Border Patrol agent was killed by one of the guns and the conspiracy was blown.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    I've heard two work better Paul
    December 12, 2012 10:30 am
    http://zapatopi.net/afdb/
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Operation Wide Receiver (WIth Sources Cited)
    December 12, 2012 11:19 am
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal#2006.E2.80.932008:_Operation_Wide_Receiver_and_other_probes

    "The majority of the guns were eventually lost as they moved into Mexico."

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    so, let me get your argument straight Drool
    December 12, 2012 12:54 pm
    1) you are saying that Wide Receiver proved to be ill conceived and a disaster (guns getting into the hands of psycho killers), so it was then shut down during Bush.

    2) Instead of learning a lesson and never attempting such a foolish plan again, the Obama administration then ups the ante and opens a bigger operation that doesn't even attempt to track the weapons, while at the same time sending Biden, Hillary and Holder out to the media making false claims that 90% of the weapons found at crime scenes in Mexico came from the U.S.

    3)and you think this is a good thing?

    Did I miss anything?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Yes, Paul You Did Miss Something.
    December 12, 2012 1:56 pm
    I never said it was a good idea. I was pointing out the selective nature of the news coverage.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Paul, We Do Know....
    December 12, 2012 10:00 am
    ....that our firearms rights have actually expanded under the first Obama administration.

    Stick that in your RCBS and load it.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    yes you are delusional Drool
    December 12, 2012 10:28 am
    but ok, I'll bite. How have the Chicago thugs expanded our firearms rights?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Paul
    December 12, 2012 11:24 am
    President Obama signed a bill allowing firearms in national parks. One can now legally possess a firearm in Mount Rainier National Park as long as local laws are complied with.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    wow, you're giving Obama credit for Bush overturning a 25 year old rule
    December 12, 2012 1:02 pm
    about carrying guns in National Parks? It's a shame you don't give Obama the same credit for the third world economy he is inheriting from himself.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    Really Paul?
    December 12, 2012 2:31 pm
    The national park gun law change was included in an amendment to the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009, authored by Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and signed into law by President Obama on May 22, 2009.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    Yes really
    December 12, 2012 3:07 pm
    it was already in effect under Bush until U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by gun-control advocates and environmental groups. Coburn’s amendment to the credit card reform bill was intended to prevent the implementation of the March 19, 2009 preliminary federal injunction blocking a George W. Bush administration regulation that allowed concealed weapons to be carried in national parks and wildlife refuges.

    You people sure are misinformed. It's no wonder you fall for anything your party and it's media tells you.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    So Obama did or he not
    December 12, 2012 3:43 pm
    Sign the bill? That authorized gun possession in National Parks.

    Or is there a bad movie telling you otherwise?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    good grief! read above...your question was already answered
    December 12, 2012 4:03 pm
    yes, yes, yes. Obama signed the credit card bill, which had inserted in it (by Republicans) the regulation that Bush had already ordered that allowed concealed weapons in national parks.

    and this makes him second amendment friendly? Is that what you and Drool really believe? Come on, be honest. If you do really believe Obama would defend the second amendment, you are way whackier than I ever thought...and that's saying something.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    Sign a law to allow gun carry in National Parks?
    December 12, 2012 4:23 pm
    Friendly?

    Not?

    You guys are just goofy.

    Try three levels of http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

    You know Paul, I take advantage of that law.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    is that an answer?
    December 12, 2012 4:46 pm
    It's just a bit incoherent. So can you answer clearly? Do you really believe that Obama supports the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms? The Chicago politician who said this?.... “And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced.”

    “…frankly, in my hometown of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap handguns.”

    “I am not in favor of concealed weapons,” Obama told the Pittsburgh Tribune. “I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations.”

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    Read you own post then get back to me
    December 12, 2012 5:08 pm
    "I

    What does that mean?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    ok, you can't say it, I get it
    December 12, 2012 5:09 pm
    I already knew you clowns are just blowing smoke. Even the drones don't believe what they have been programmed to say. Thanks for confirming.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • taxslave wrote...
    Paul Kersey....
    December 12, 2012 6:09 am
    Best post I have ever read on this website. Too deep for most of the sheep that graze here though.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    thanks taxslave :)
    December 12, 2012 6:19 am
    I know what you mean, F&F or other stories of any import aren't discussed much around here. I just toss it out once in a while to watch them scratch their heads. Soon, this will be forgotten and the sheep can go back to grazing on gay marriage stories.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • anotherfencewalker wrote...
    Bang Bang your dead..
    December 12, 2012 8:31 am
    You six shooter swinging gun owners crack me up. Your answer to a lunatic spraying bullets around a mall or movie theatre is to arm everyone in advance that he's ready to kill. A limp wristed fast track approach if there ever was one. Forget the details, where's my 45 with the mach-man hollowpoint cop killer ammo?? Their are individuals out there right now that are borderline ef'n nuts and mad at everything and everybody. They're ready and willing to get even with YOU or your neighbor. One thing though: They dont own a gun and likely have never had their hands on one. Put one in their hands and you've just provided the needed bravado to push them over the edge into chaos and horror. This is what the people in the cold dead fingers crowd don't have an answer to. Sure, go ahead and chant the slogan" Guns dont kill people, people kill people. The pro gun groups are not going to seek out and find the screwballs. They're willing to promote that everyone, including the mentally unstable should be able to have and hold a weapon. Legal and responsible gun owners are NOT the problem.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    uhhh
    December 12, 2012 8:49 am
    okaaaay......
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otherpointofview wrote...
    what is your point??
    December 12, 2012 12:06 pm
    so those boarderline ef'n nuts don't kill or hurt someone cause they don't have a gun?? i'm sure if they were "ready and willing" enough and all they needed was the little added bravado, they could find that in their kitchen or find the keys to their car to run someone over.. so the "The pro gun groups are not going to seek out and find the screwballs" well neither is the anti gun group.. my point is, if those crazy, screwball, desperate, over medicated, lunatics or "whatever adjectives you wanna throw in there" crazy people want to harm someone.. they'll do it with a tool that's available to them...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    anotherfencewalker wrote...???????????????????
    December 13, 2012 8:24 am
    Put the Crack pipe down dude before you go driving through a crowd trying to get away from the Cops!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    Who writes this stuff...go back to an englis class....
    December 12, 2012 9:41 am
    " at an Oregon mall was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew."................should be written as, at a Oregon mall was a 22 years old and used a RIFLE STOLEN from someone he knew.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • xplanes wrote...
    Suicide by cop
    December 12, 2012 10:07 am
    60 rounds fired and only 2 dead. Thankfully he wasn't really trying to massacre people. Last night Q13fox actually went back and recovered mall shootings in 2009 and 2005 in order to add to the sense of fear we should all have about guns. You want to talk about blacks getting shot receiving no coverage? What about all the times legal gun owners stop crimes. Hear those crickets? I'm still waiting to see a story about how the Virginia Tech shooting was stopped by a lawful gun owner. More crickets.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    ?, xplanes
    December 12, 2012 10:48 am
    Yeah, it was stopped by a "lawful" gun owner.

    On April 16, Cho began his rampage by killing two students in a dormitory after 7 a.m. He later went to a classroom building and began shooting students and faculty members, killing 30 people and injuring numerous others around 9:45 a.m. The spree only ended when Cho turned one of his guns on himself; he shot himself in the head.

    The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 15 others[1] in two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, before committing suicide.

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  • xplanes wrote...
    I stand corrected.
    December 12, 2012 12:28 pm
    It wasn't Virginia tech I was thinking of. It was the Appalachian School of Law shooting. Overpowered the shooter by armed students. No coverage. http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/1/25/153427.html Insert an "s" in front of html in the link because MNW.com bans its use before ht.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sghouse wrote...
    agree
    December 12, 2012 1:01 pm
    either he was really bad with guns or he wasn't trying very hard to shoot people. At least he was able to shoot himself, too bad he didn't start there....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lonestar wrote...
    He was staying at the Bates Motel?
    December 12, 2012 10:42 am
    No wonder!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    The media splashes the first , middle and the last name
    December 12, 2012 11:06 am
    of the killer "over and over ad nauseam" no wonder the mentally ill and criminals among us (not locked up) resort to sensational crimes like this because they know that's all they can do to achieve "fame".Do you think if someone did something "good" the media would pick up on that and continuosly repeat their first , middle and last name. No the media would look the other way.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otherpointofview wrote...
    media got it right
    December 12, 2012 11:35 am
    the media actually got it right this time by describing the gun as an ar-15 semiauto rifle.. if it was any of the MYNW reporters they would have for sure called it an assult rifle.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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