Permit holder stops mall shooting

[JMorse]

Forgive me if this has been posted:
http://www.kgw.com/news/Clackamas-man-armed-confronts-mall-shooter-183593571.html


Clackamas man, armed, confronts mall shooter
by Mike Benner

Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:15 PM

PORTLAND -- Nick Meli is emotionally drained. The 22-year-old was at Clackamas Town Center with a friend and her baby when a masked man opened fire.

"I heard three shots and turned and looked at Casey and said, 'are you serious?,'" he said.

The friend and baby hit the floor. Meli, who has a concealed carry permit, positioned himself behind a pillar.

"He was working on his rifle," said Meli. "He kept pulling the charging handle and hitting the side."

The break in gunfire allowed Meli to pull out his own gun, but he never took his eyes off the shooter.

"As I was going down to pull, I saw someone in the back of the Charlotte move, and I knew if I fired and missed, I could hit them," he said.

Meli took cover inside a nearby store. He never pulled the trigger. He stands by that decision.

"I'm not beating myself up cause I didn't shoot him," said Meli. "I know after he saw me, I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself."

The gunman was dead, but not before taking two innocent lives with him and taking the innocence of everyone else.

"I don't ever want to see anyone that way ever," said Meli. "It just bothers me."

[RoyGBiv]

Until I read this on another forum I had no knowledge that a CC holder had been involved in dissuading the mall shooter from killing other innocents.

[JHC]

First I heard of that. Will spread it far and wide.

[RoyGBiv]

Pretty calm, mature decision making for a young guy..
Here's the video that goes with the OP's article.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iD52IxplEoM

[Mr_White]

I really hope that story is true and that it can pick up some steam. I have no faith in most media, but surely if it is true it can stand in stark contrast to the far worst event later in the week. I tried to email the story to John Lott, but no idea if it will get though.

[Craig N]

So he did nothing but hide in a store? If the gun was jammed and he couldn't make the shot from where he was why didn't he rush the shooter and get closer.

[NETim]

So he did nothing but hide in a store? If the gun was jammed and he couldn't make the shot from where he was why didn't he rush the shooter and get closer.

No cover between him and the shooter?

I wasn't there, so I'm not going to second guess him. I thought he did well given what we know.

[Kyle Reese]

So he did nothing but hide in a store? If the gun was jammed and he couldn't make the shot from where he was why didn't he rush the shooter and get closer.

Alas, this situation is the damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. Had he opened fire and possibly injured / killed an innocent party, the media would have been on him like a fat man on a chocolate cupcake. He chose to not shoot, and is being condemned by some for failing to act.

[tmoore912]

Ok, call me jaded. I'm a little skeptical about this. Hoping there is some security video found that corroborates his story. I want to believe it's true so bad.

He's taking a chance coming out about carrying in the mall, because isn't it against the law to carry past Gun Buster signs on private property in Oregon?

[TGS]

So he did nothing but hide in a store? If the gun was jammed and he couldn't make the shot from where he was why didn't he rush the shooter and get closer.

Ummm.......


No cover between him and the shooter?

I wasn't there, so I'm not going to second guess him. I thought he did well given what we know.

100% agree.

[Savage Hands]

I think he acted appropriately under the circumstances.

[Mr_White]

isn't it against the law to carry past Gun Buster signs on private property in Oregon?

We don't have 'Gun Buster' signs proper in Oregon. A gun buster sign provision is not spelled out in a state statute anywhere here. But a sign can *potentially* have the same effect via the regular armed trespass law. Not exactly the same thing though.

[Mr_White]

A more detailed account is here: http://www.easybakegunclub.com/blog/1968/Concealed-Carry-Hero-at-Portland

I need to find out if this is true, because I haven't heard peep about it from LE so far.

[nonameisgood]

I'll be "that guy", but I'm not taking a cheap shot at this guy, just deconstructing what is said and what happened:

"I could have stopped it, but I didn't." If true, he had no way if knowing that it would be the guy's last shot at the time. The story says he knew the gun was jammed but then that the malfunction was cleared and the shooter had reloaded. He didn't crouch or go prone, or aim for the body instead of the head, to reduce the risk of hitting someone else. Opting for a first shot to the head at 15-20 yards seems really sketchy when there is a perfectly good body to shoot.

Discussing inaction may lead to the assessment that "even when licensed/concealed/open carriers are present, they fail to stop such horrendous acts in progress, so why let them carry?"

Why do people not recognize that in a life or death situation, you need to do whatever it takes to live? There should be no question as to the validity of this target nor the urgency in this situation.

Anyway, I understand scared and trying only to protect yourself and your companions. More of us need to decide that if we carry, we WILL act. It is the next step after acquiring the tools and skills.

[Haraise]

What a great link. Thank you for sharing it, I have done so myself.

[jon volk]

Maybe the guy just didn't have confidence in his ability to make a clean shot at that distance. I respect his decision of not endangering others. If he did hit a bystander, that would be much harder to live with than not shooting at all.

[Mr_White]

Discussing inaction may lead to the assessment that "even when licensed/concealed/open carriers are present, they fail to stop such horrendous acts in progress, so why let them carry?"

This story really needs to get verified, first of all.

If it can be verified and Mr. Meli's account is accurate, it pretty strongly suggests that his armed intervention, even without a shot being fired, was the intervention that sent the POS on his predictable run to suicide (a very common pattern.)


Maybe the guy just didn't have confidence in his ability to make a clean shot at that distance. I respect his decision of not endangering others. If he did hit a bystander, that would be much harder to live with than not shooting at all.

Hitting a bystander would probably also be very harshly portrayed in the media, though I think the doctrine of two evils applies. But as suggested, change the shot angle and don't miss (MMQB.)

[idahojess]

"Authorities confirmed Monday that Meli was seen during the incident, gun drawn, near the entrance to Macy's inside the mall."


http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2012/12/security_guard_said_he_had_rob.html

[Chemsoldier]

While this is really harsh logic, and the armed citizen couldnt know this....if the Conn shooting was combined with a permit holder accidentally shooting a bystander we would have a real problem right now. As it is the practice of CCW is marginally threatened and I think it will energize school carry in certain states. So if he was confident enough to shoot, it is probably best he didnt.

[Mr_White]

Here is another story about this guy, supposedly with a more detailed video interview (video is blocked at work and I haven't watched it yet myself.)

http://5440fight.com/2012/12/17/the-actions-of-nick-meli-helped-end-the-oregon-mall-shooting/

[RoyGBiv]

Here is another story about this guy, supposedly with a more detailed video interview (video is blocked at work and I haven't watched it yet myself.)

http://5440fight.com/2012/12/17/the-actions-of-nick-meli-helped-end-the-oregon-mall-shooting/

Maybe you can see it here?
http://vimeo.com/55919401

Haven't watched it yet myself..

[Mr_White]

Maybe you can see it here?
http://vimeo.com/55919401

Haven't watched it yet myself..

Nope, also blocked. Thanks for trying though. I'll have to watch it at home later.

[idahojess]

I watched most of it last night. It was pretty interesting. I don't blame him for not doing more.