The suspect in a Halloween shooting at Vancouver Mall followed the victim for a short time before shooting him in the back of the head at point-blank range, according to court records. Court records do not indicate a motive for the shooting or whether the suspect and victim knew each other. But court records state Travis L.
Ward, 32, donned a “Joker”-type mask shortly after entering the mall, which was hosting a trick-or-treat event. Ward, of Vancouver, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault. According to a motion filed by prosecutors requesting Ward be held without bail, prosecutors also intend to file a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors said Ward’s criminal history includes convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm and an Oregon charge for unlawful use of a weapon in 2021. Judge John Fairgrieve ordered Ward be held in the Clark County Jail without bail until a bail hearing Thursday. Law enforcement from several agencies responded to the mall at 7:28 p.
m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found a man, later identified as James Perez, on the ground in the food court with gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a probable cause affidavit. Travis L. Ward, 32, appears Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault.
He is accused of killing a man and wounding two ot.