The 18-year-old accused of shooting and wounding a younger teen in theparking lot of the Clackamas Town Centeron Friday followed the victim and a female in the mall and out to their car, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court Monday.
Pedro Anthony Cornejo-Morales had prior contacts with the 15-year-old boy and later approached the pair, who were in a car in the parking lot about 2:50 p.m.
Witnesses saw two people dressed in black walk up to the car, and Cornejo-Morales stood on the passenger side and fired multiple shots into the vehicle, Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Joshua T. Cutino wrote in the affidavit.
The 15-year-old boy fired back in response, Cutino wrote. He was shot in his left hand and treated at a local hospital.
The shooting occurred in the mall s full parking lot in front of the Barnes & Noble store on a busy shopping day the Friday before Christmas. At least four bullet casings were found in the lot near the shooting scene, witnesses said.
The 15-year-old had recognized that Cornejo-Morales and another person were following him and asked a mall employee for help finding an exit to get to their car, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance video from the mall showed the 15-year-old and a female walk out. The female got into the driver s seat of a vehicle while the 15-year-old walked south through the parking lot. The female then drove to pick up the 15-year-old.
Once the 15-year-old was inside the car, Cornejo-Morales was one of two people who approached the vehicle and fired a gun into the passenger side.
Police responded and found Cornejo-Morales walking toward the I-205 multi-use path near the mall and arrested him. A second suspect has not yet been located.
Cornejo-Morales is accused of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault. He was being held at the Clackamas County Jail and was arraigned in court Monday afternoon.
Court records do not indicate a motive for the shooting.
Clackamas prosecutors filed a preventative detention motion seeking a judge s order to hold Cornejo-Morales in custody and find that the allegations are violent felonies and there s a danger of physical injury to the victim or others if he s released.
Cornejo-Morales is being held with no bail, jail records show. A hearing has been set for Friday at 3 p.m. on the state s motion for preventative detention.
Friday s shooting occurred 12 years aftera 22-year-old gunman strode into the mallduring the busy Christmas holiday shopping season and opened fire in the food court, killing two shoppers and seriously injuring a third before he killed himself.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via [email protected], 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.
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