The shooter was identified as 38-year-old Keland Hill
VANCOUVER — The Clark County Sheriff’s office has confirmed that one of two women who was shot inside a van in the parking lot of Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon has died. The other victim received non-life threatening injuries.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by Tabitha Ojeda, the victim is Tiffany Hill, the estranged wife of the shooter, who was identified as 38-year-old Keland Hill. Ojeda, who identifies herself as Tiffany Hill’s sister, says the other victim was their mother, and that she was shot three times, suffering injuries to her hands and arms.
The sheriff’s office also now says that there were three children in the van at the time of the shooting, rather than the two originally reported. The couple did have three children, though it hasn’t been confirmed if the children in the vehicle were related to them. All three were taken into the care of Child Protective Services at the scene.
Deputies responding to the shooting shortly after 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday found the van, lights still on, and the driver’s side window shattered. Bullet holes could also be seen in the front windshield, directly in front of the driver’s seat.
The surviving victim was able to give deputies a description of Hill and his vehicle. A short pursuit ended at NE Andresen and Padden Parkway, where Hill was confronted by deputies and then held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He was declared deceased at the hospital.
Hill had made bail four days before the shooting after being arrested on charges of violating a restraining order obtained by Tiffany Hill. Court documents obtained by Clark County Today show Hill had allegedly installed a GPS tracker on his estranged wife’s vehicle, and had approached her on at least three separate occasions and sent her numerous text messages, in violation of the protection order obtained in September.
Court records also show Hill, a former Marine, had attempted to purchase a gun at a Wal-Mart in Portland on Oct. 6, but had been denied due to the domestic violence charges showing up during a background check. He allegedly told the store clerk he was attempting to purchase the bolt-action rifle “to take care of vermin” on his property.
It is unclear at this point where Hill obtained the weapon used in Tuesday’s shooting, but that will be a major focus of the Clark County Major Crimes team investigation, according to Clark County Sergeant Brent Waddell.
“It’s a tragedy all around,” said Waddell on Tuesday evening, noting that one of the deputies who responded to the shooting had been involved in the ongoing domestic dispute case involving Hill.
“It takes a toll on not only the families that are involved,” said Waddell, “but also the school, the people who found them, the people that witnessed it, and the deputies involved.”
Friends of Hill took to social media to mourn his death, many alluding to a history of mental health problems potentially related to his time in the military.
“Always hurts to see another friend loss (sic) to metal health,” said one post on Facebook. “Keland Hill, I will always remember you for your fun to be around personality.”
“Words cannot describe the pain we are feeling today,” another post read. “Woke up to some devastating news. We lost another Marine to suicide and mental health. His children will be without a dad and mom for the rest of their lives. We need to be there for them and support them however we can.”
In a release on Tuesday, Vancouver Public Schools said “Our thoughts are with the victims, students, families, staff and the entire Anderson community. We will support them however we can.”
Officers from the Clark County Sheriff’s office, Vancouver Police, and SWAT responded to both scenes, along with Clark County Fire District 6.\
