The shooting occurred just after 2 p.m. local time, authorities said. Police negotiated with the man by telephone after he returned to his apartment in the building, which is called Smith Tower Apartments. His identity has not been released.
Authorities said a motive was not clear. The victim who was killed has not been named.
Two of the victims were taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver with nonlife-threatening injuries, Randy Querin, a hospital spokesman, said. Querin declined to provide more details about the patients.
The mayor of Vancouver, Anne McEnerny-Ogle, posted on Twitter: “While we are still learning about what happened surrounding the shooting incident this afternoon in downtown Vancouver, our hearts go out to the victims and their families as they deal with this tragedy.”
Some areas of the cylindrical, multistory building had been evacuated, Kim Kapp, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department, said.
Television footage showed a drone flying near the building, which is at 515 Washington St. Several nearby streets were closed as police vehicles gathered outside.
Smith Tower Apartments, which caters to seniors and offers affordable options for low-income retirees, has nearly 200 studio and one-bedroom apartments. The apartment building bills itself as “a senior community where you don’t need to look far to find friends you share common interests with.”
Vancouver is just north of Portland, Oregon, across the Columbia River, which is also the state line between Oregon and Washington.
Michael Palensky, owner of Couve Cycle, which is around the corner from Smith Tower Apartments, said he was heading home when he had to “pull over really fast for a firetruck and an ambulance who came screaming around the corner.”
Palensky said his usual route home takes him right by the south side of the apartment building, but on Thursday, he found police cars in his path.
“It blocked off all of a sudden, right away, with five or six cop cars,” he said.
Palensky said the area around the Smith Tower Apartments was small and tight-knit, despite being downtown.
“Everybody knows everyone down there,” he said, adding that he knew a few people who lived in the apartment building and was concerned for their safety.
This article originally appeared in
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