Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at the Forum shopping center in east Bend on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022.

BEND – A gunman with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle opened fire Sunday in a shopping center on Bend’s east side, killing two as he sprayed the aisles of a Safeway store.

Bend Police and a witness who spoke with The Bend Bulletin, said the shooter died at the scene, with the military-style rifle and a shotgun next to the body. The identity of the gunman and any motive were not immediately available.

The gunman killed one person outside the Safeway, then walked into the supermarket and sprayed bullets down every aisle, according to Bend Police and an eyewitness who spoke with The Bulletin.

The gunman also killed a person at the rear of the grocery store, said Bend Police spokeswoman Sheila Miller.  

The shooting prompted some shoppers to reach for their own weapons, though Bend Police reported none fired any shots.  

Police said the incident began about 7:04 p.m. near the Costco at 2500 NE Hwy 20.

The gunman fired shots into the Big Lots store in the shopping complex. He shot and killed a person in the entryway of the adjacent Safeway, Miller said. Police said the shooter may have had several weapons in addition to the rifle.

The gunman entered the Safeway and fired several shots.

Molly Taroli, 40, said she was shopping for dinner with her husband in the frozen foods aisle of the Safeway on Sunday when the shooter came in through the westernmost door of the supermarket.

Taroli said the gunman through every aisle “spraying shots.” Taroli removed her own handgun from her purse. Her husband ran out the front door to get his own gun. 

Taroli said she heard a child screaming. She threw her shopping cart in front of her and started running toward the back of the store. Employees were yelling “go, go, go!” and getting shoppers through the stock room and out the back door.    

Dozens of police officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and ambulances were on the scene Sunday. 

Bend Police swiftly put out a bulletin urging residents to stay clear of the shopping center.

Molly Sanden, a Safeway employee, told The Bulletin that a person walked into the grocery store and opened fire with a gun, firing multiple shots.

Jake Daniels, another Safeway employee, said he heard three shots followed by another six. He said he saw a person running out of the store, pursued by police.

Daniels said after the first shots, he started grabbing people and running out the store doors. 

About a dozen Safeway workers huddled outside a nearby business at the Forum shopping center, clearly shaken. 

 

Siess, Kaminski and Demars are reporters for The Bend Bulletin, a partner in the Oregon Capital Bureau.