Erik Salvador Ayala

Offence

Erik Salvador Ayala opened fire indiscriminately outside an under-21 nightclub, called The Zone, in Portland, Oregon, United States.

The shooting occurred at about 10:30 p.m. PST when Ayala fired onto a group of teenagers and customers waiting outside the entrance of KELL's Irish Pub with a 9mm Tanfoglio T95 semiautomatic pistol. Two people were killed and seven others were wounded.

Police have defined the murders as a random act of violence. The case has been described as “the worst mass shooting in Portland's history”.

Timeline

• January 24, 2009 — Ayala drove to Southwest 4th Avenue and Southwest Main Street in downtown Portland, walked ahead of The Zone, and fired indiscriminately onto a group outside KELL's Irish Pub; 16-year-old Ashley Lauren Wilks and 17-year-old Martha Paz De Noboa were pronounced dead; Ayala critically injured himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
• January 26, 2009 — Ayala died at a Portland-area hospital.

Victims

Fatalities

• Ashley Lauren Wilks, 16, from Happy Valley, Oregon, was pronounced dead at the scene by responding emergency personnel from two gunshot wounds.
• Martha Paz De Noboa, 17, from Arequipa, Peru, died at a hospital on January 24.
• Erik Salvador Ayala, 24, from Milwaukie, Oregon, was the shooter and died at a hospital on January 26.

Injuries

Seven people were injured in the shooting:

• Jouyuan Trista Chang, 18 (Taiwan)
• Susanna “Susy” De Sousa, 18 (Italy)
• Jalontae Howard, 16 (Portland, Oregon)
• Gonzalo Vasquez Orozco, 18 (Guatemala)
• Anne Sophie Rialland, 16 (France)
• Ana Zambrano Soledispa, 18 (Ecuador)
• Bradley Steven Yoast, 44 (Portland, Oregon)

Susanna De Sousa was in critical condition from injuries to her stomach, chest, and neck. Bradley Steven Yoast suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and was discharged from a hospital two weeks later.

Investigation

Police said they did not know what led Ayala to fire on the crowd and said they still did not know why the nine people were gunned down, describing the incident as random.

Police said they may have believed the victims had been chosen at random. Police said they had not found any connection between Ayala and the group of exchange students who were waiting outside The Zone.

Police executed a search warrant at Ayala’s Milwaukie home and found a case for the 9mm handgun as well as ammunition, numerous video games, and a note Ayala left for his roommate.

Weapon and acquisition

Ayala used a 9mm Tanfoglio T95 semiautomatic pistol.

Ayala bought the Italian-made weapon from a Portland pawn shop on Jan. 9. The pawn shop owner, Bryan Kellim, told The Associated Press that Ayala came into the store a couple of days before that looking to buy a 9mm gun for about $400, and that Ayala asked about learning to shoot, leading Kellim to recommend a gun safety course.

Wheat confirmed the weapon used in the shooting was traced to the pawn shop. She said Ayala had attempted to purchase the weapon on Jan. 6 but did not have the correct identification, and he returned on Jan. 9 with proper ID.

Arrest / custody

Ayala was not arrested; he died after turning the gun on himself.

People

Perpetrator

Erik Salvador Ayala was 24 years old. He was born March 10, 1984 and died January 26, 2009.

He graduated from McNary High School in Keizer, Oregon, in 2002.

Ayala was reported to have worked at Burger King and also worked for the Oregon Department of Human Services in Salem as a data entry clerk from March 2006 to July 2007. The case account said there was no record of other employment with the state, and investigators had not said whether he had a job.

Victim details and related individuals

• The victims were described as including foreign exchange students, and most victims were part of a foreign exchange student program.
• The teens were among a group of 11 students from the Rotary District 5100 Youth Exchange program on a social outing organized by a host parent to celebrate a Guatemalan student’s birthday. The exchange students came from France, Italy, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Taiwan and were being hosted by families in Oregon and Washington. Besides the two students killed, four other exchange students in the group were wounded.
• Two teenage girls were killed: Martha “Tika” Paz de Noboa and 16-year-old Ashley Wilks.
• Susanna DeSousa was described as having been at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center.

Officials and spokespeople quoted

Police Chief Rosie Sizer called the shooting “a random act of violence of the kind that makes you despair for America.”

Wayne Hearn, spokesman for Rotary International North America, said: “The kids look at this as an experience of a lifetime. Something like this is an aberration.”

Chuck Itoh, chairman of the student exchange program, said: “Apparently, they all felt the place they were going to go (The Zone nightclub) was well-established and a very reputable place,”

Sizer extended her sympathies and said: “I think what we all want now is answers. We are working to get those. ... It's the randomness as well as the scale that is outside of anything that we know of in the past.”

Scott Bieber, youth protection officer for Rotary District 5100, said: “When something like this happens, it hurts us all, it saddens us all. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased and the injured students.”

Duane Vaubel, vice chair of the Rotary Youth Exchange committee, called it an “extreme tragedy.”

Bieber said: “I don't think you can have a tragedy of this magnitude without having a certain amount of impact,” and also said: “We're going to work as hard as we can to minimize any negative effect it might have on the program because Rotary believes wholeheartedly in its commitment to advance world understanding, good will and peace. We feel strongly that this exchange program does that.”

Matt Utterback, Clackamas High School principal, said: “This random act of violence has cut short a young life and threatened another,” and: “Such a horrific act is impossible to accept or understand.”

Matt Utterback also said: “This is a significant tragedy to our school community,” and: “It certainly is a tragedy to those families. It's unimaginable what those families must be going through right now. Our goal is supporting our students and our staff, and we are making plans to do so.”

Dominique Howard posted a MySpace bulletin asking for prayers and wrote: “i witnessed 2 girls get killed my head is going crazy im bugging out.”

Witness statements quoted

William Kennedy said: “pow, pow, pow, pow.”

He also said: “I just see two girls down, laying outside. Two pairs of feet by the front doorway,” and: “They had just been waiting outside on line to get in.”

He said he saw the club’s DJ outside administering CPR on one of the victims, and that he heard at least five gunshots above the hip-hop music blaring inside. Kennedy said: “That's scary stuff,”

David Little said: “We heard 'pop, pop, pop, pop and bam ...,” and also said: “The young man was crouched down between two cars just outside Kells,”

Viyarda Marson stated: diners heard the shootings and “she saw the gunman fall to the ground.”

Delisle said: “I was sick to my stomach and shaking,” and: “I wasn't even aware that he had a gun - or let alone that he could even afford it.”

Delisle also said: “Everyone that knows him is really shocked,” and: “It was a big surprise. I didn't see it coming,” and: “He was a quiet person. He kept to himself.”

Kellim said: “He was polite, he was friendly, he seemed like a regular guy,” and: “Literally, we were shocked.” Kellim also said: “When my employee called me and said this was the person in the shooting, we all said, 'Wow!' ”

One of Ayala’s neighbors, Michael White, said: “He was always really calm - didn't seem really too up or down,” and: “Honestly, he just blended in with everybody else.”

Outcome / status

Ayala died from a self-inflicted head wound. The report described that he died two days later in a Portland-area hospital. The status was suicide by shooting himself the same day.

Other details

Ayala was described as depressed and unemployed when he left a note for his roommate that insinuated suicide. Police released details that he left a note for his roommate and that he drove to downtown Portland and opened fire on a random crowd.

Police said investigators found Ayala’s car and cordoned it off after the shooting. They found Ayala’s note in the home.

The contents of the note police said they recovered were:

To my friends and family: I am sorry. And to my friend, (redacted) I am especially sorry. I know it's not much consolation but as my friend and roommate you are entitled to everything that I own. Maybe these things can bring in a few bucks. Good luck in this (expletive) world. Erik
If you need my personal information for any reason, here it is: My ssn: (redacted) My bank account number: (redacted) My alien number: (redacted) My ODL: 974739 My birthdate: 03-10-84 The check I wrote you should be most of the money in my account. I gave you an affidavit in case you want to check what's left but it's probably less than $20. Qwest account login: (redacted) (redacted) My car is up to date with maintenance. It just leaks a little oil. You can probably get at least 2.5 grand for it. It'll be somewhere downtown but I'm not sure where. I'm sure you'll get a letter about it soon. You know my ps3 is special. Similar USED ps3's go for AT LEAST $450-$500. Our landlord guy wants a ps3 like mine. Let him know that $400 would be a GOOD deal. If he doesn't want it, format the drive by going to Settings>System>Format Utility. You can say it "comes with the latest firmware software" to help market it on the internet. In case you don't know, it's the special "100% backwards compatible" (60 GB) ps3. I'm sorry to put all this on you buddy, good luck.

Investigators speculated that Ayala had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic during his high school years and once attempted suicide by overdosing on over-the-counter drugs, and he worked at Burger King and threw his medication into the garbage instead of taking it.

Ayala used online discussion boards where he stated he disliked “Preppies”.

Ayala lived at the Pine Ridge Apartments in Milwaukie (formerly known as Willow Court), where the police and community have had a long history of ongoing problems described as drug dealing, crime, and abuse.

Court records showed Ayala had no criminal record in Oregon other than a speeding ticket in 2004.

People described Ayala as a quiet video game fan and said he had an interest in computers and video games, not guns or nightclubs. Mike Delisle said Ayala did not frequent dance clubs and that he did not own a gun and never showed an interest in firearms.