Two girls killed in "random" nightclub shooting
Two teenage girls shot dead after gunman opens fire outside under-21 nightclub in Portland, Oregon
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Monday, 26, Jan 2009 10:04
Two teenage girls have been shot dead after a gunman opened fire outside a nightclub in Portland, Oregon.
The city's police department said seven people had been hurt in the incident, which took place at a club for under-21s.
All of the victims were students on an exchange programme celebrating a birthday, police said.
Portland resident Ashley Wilks, 16, has been identified as one of the victims. She had been preparing for her exchange trip to Peru, where the second victim – who is yet to be named – was from.
Of the seven people injured in the attack, one of whom is in a critical condition, four were students from Ecuador, France, Guatemala and Taiwan.
"At first blush, this incident appears to be a random act of violence, of the kind that makes you despair for America," said police chief Rosie Sizer said.
The gunman, named as 24-year-old Erik Salvadore Ayala, remains in a critical condition after turning the gun on himself after the shooting.