Police provide more detailed account of Troutdale shooting

TROUTDALE, Ore. – A 15-year-old boy accused of killing a fellow freshman in a high school locker room was heavily armed with an assault rifle, handgun and knife that police said Wednesday had been taken from a secured area at his home.

The details were released as police provided a more detailed account of the violence on Tuesday at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, and a portrait emerged of 15-year-old suspect Jared Michael Padgett as a devout Mormon and aspiring serviceman.

Authorities said an autopsy confirmed that Padgett had died in a school bathroom of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a brief exchange of gunfire with arriving officers.

However, no link has been discovered between Padgett and 14-year-old victim Emilio Hoffman, leaving police unsure if the shooter was targeting someone in particular or had launched a random attack.

“He always talked about guns and sometimes got mad,” student Kaylah Ensign said, adding that Padgett could also be kind and respectful. “He helped kids and I never would have thought he would do that,” Ensign recalled. “And he was really neat.”

Earl Milliron, 86, a friend of the Padgett family, said Jared planned a career in the military and was devoted to his Mormon faith after being ordained as a deacon at age 12.

“I never suspected that he had serious problems, I refuse in my mind to believe that Jared Michael who did the shooting is the same Jared Michael I knew,” said Milliron.

Jared Padgett’s oldest brother had served in the military in Afghanistan and Jared was planning the same path, he said. Jared was in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

Jared’s mother and father were no longer together, and the couple had six children, Milliron said.

Police Chief Scott Anderson said Padgett had taken the weapons used in the attack from his family home. “The weapons had been secured, but he defeated the security measures,” the chief said. Padgett also had nine magazines of ammunition, police said.

Jennifer Hoffman, the mother of the victim, said he loved his friends and sports. He had a sister and three brothers, along with a number of foster siblings he had grown up with.