Editor’s Note: This story includes details of a public shooting that may be disturbing to some readers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – New details are coming to light about the shooting in Vancouver Mall that left one person dead and two others wounded on Thursday.
The man accused in the shooting appeared in court Monday afternoon, according to Clark County court records.
Travis L. Ward, 32, faces one charge of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault after a SWAT unit surrounded his home and he surrendered to authorities Saturday evening.
The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Thursday near the mall’s food court. According to a probable cause document, Ward shot one person and “fired other rounds that struck two other individuals” during a family Trick-or-Treat event inside the mall while wearing a full-size "Joker" mask.
Detectives found that Ward had followed James Perez, 27, for a "short period of time before the suspect shot him in the back of the head at a point blank range," the PC document said. Perez died from his injuries.
Two others, Daniel Martin and Brandon Leyrer, were also injured by "projectiles of fragments of projectiles."
Martin spoke with KOIN 6 News about his experience taking his two daughters to the event and being in the food court when the gunfire erupted.
“I heard four loud pops and it almost sounded like firecrackers going off. But in my head I was, like, ‘What is that? Is that a gun?'” Martin said. “I felt something hit my foot and I was, like, ‘I just got shot. There’s a shooter right behind me.'”
Martin was shot in the foot and said a stranger used their belt as a tourniquet along with a wad of napkins to stop the bleeding while Leyrer suffered injuries to his abdomen.
“I had seen the gunman. He was wearing a Halloween costume with a mask and everything,” Martin said. “I just saw him emptying the rest of his handgun into the body on the floor. And so I know that, like, less than 10 feet away from me is someone who is unloading a gun into a body, and I’m holding my daughters and I’m bleeding from my foot and they’re freaking out.”
According to the probable cause document, Ward had entered the mall with this mother, his girlfriend and his child dressed as a princess before the group got separated and he put on the mask. His girlfriend later contacted police and revealed Ward was her boyfriend -- but did not indicate knowing that he had shot anyone.
Details about what may have motivated the shooting are unclear, and police said Ward "would not admit or offer any explanation as to why he had shot and killed Perez." An investigation is ongoing.
The state has asked the judge to hold Ward without bail, adding “the defendant has demonstrated a propensity for violence that creates a substantial likelihood of danger to the community."
Ward was previously found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a firearm. His next court appearance is Thursday, Nov. 7.
Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.
