Gunman in shooting rampage dies of self-inflicted gunshot

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The man who killed two teenage girls and wounded seven other people in a weekend shooting rampage outside a youth nightclub died Tuesday of a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.

Erik S. Ayala, 24, died at a hospital as police were still trying to learn why he shot at the young people on a sidewalk downtown before shooting himself Saturday night. Police say the victims may have been chosen at random.

Police have questioned Ayala’s family, but “they really don’t know themselves,” police Detective Mary Wheat said.

A local teenager and an exchange student from Peru died. Five of the wounded also were exchange students — from Italy, France, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Taiwan. The group had been celebrating a birthday at The Zone, an under-21 nightclub.

Police said Ayala bought the 9mm handgun at a pawn shop Jan. 9. He tried to do so a few days earlier but didn’t have the proper ID. Wheat says that Ayala wasn’t a U.S. citizen, but as far as police know, he was in the country legally.

Neighbors and the manager at his apartment complex in suburban Milwaukie told The Associated Press that Ayala was a quiet and friendly resident.

Michael White, the 32-year-old manager, lives in an apartment across from Ayala and said the two traded small talk, with video games among the topics.