FBI prevents planned explosive attack and mass shooting at shopping mall

KELSO, Wash. (KPTV/Gray News) - Residents in a Washington state community are thanking authorities for stopping a major tragedy from happening at an area mall.

The FBI said it stopped a planned explosive attack and mass shooting at the Three Rivers Mall in Kelso.

According to investigators, a teenage boy was planning the attack at the mall with plans to bring those plans to fruition.

“We believe the FBI, along with our partners, prevented a tragic event in our community,” FBI Portland Special Agent In Charge Doug Olson said.

The FBI said the teen posted his plans in an online chat on May 17. It included a route to the mall where he planned to use a chlorine bomb to incite panic, then shoot mall patrons as they exited the movie theatre, before ultimately killing himself.

“I’ve heard of that type of stuff happening in Seattle or Portland or major cities, you know, riots and all that, but never here, never this side of town,” mallgoer Jeramiah Ostrander said.

The FBI has not released the identity of the boy but says he had been planning the attack since earlier this year.

Agents said they learned of the plans on May 19, and on May 22, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him at his home. They seized three firearms, multiple boxes of ammunition, clothing they believed he planned to wear, four knives and five digital devices.

“This case had every indication that it was imminent,” Agent Olson said. “An alarming number of indicators of a cogent path to violence were met. At no point in this plan did it appear that the suspect would not follow through.”

Residents said investigators’ swift actions saved their community from a major tragedy.

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