A tragic shooting incident unfolded at Mentor Green Mobile Home Park in Ohio, on Thursday afternoon, November 16, 2023. The event resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including the assailant, and left one other person wounded.
The Mentor Police Department received calls to 7134 Mentor Avenue, between Mentor and Willoughby, Ohio, just after 4:30 pm with reports of gunfire. Upon arrival, officers discovered Laura Colon, 62, the manager of the mobile home community, deceased at the site. Terrence Mathis, aged 63, and Thomas Galiza, 81, were urgently transported to a nearby hospital, where both subsequently passed away. Another victim, Charles Skala, 63, was treated for gunshot injuries to his shoulder and thigh, and is currently recuperating in a local hospital.
Ante Logarusic, the communications director for the City of Mentor, disclosed that the shooter, identified as 47-year-old Jason Norris, had barricaded himself in a mobile home within the park. After a standoff lasting several hours, officers entered the mobile home and found Norris deceased, having succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Norris, an Army veteran, had several firearms and rounds of ammunition in the home.
Inhabitants of the Mentor Green Mobile Home Park, a community primarily for individuals aged 55 and over, recounted their experiences. A neighbor living across from Norris speculated that he was facing eviction before the incident. Scott Skufka, a resident living not far from the scene, recalled hearing the gunshots at approximately 4:30 pm. Norris had been arguing with Colon and shot her with two handguns. When the other victims came to her aid, he shot at them also.
Following the shooting, approximately 30 residents were evacuated and provided shelter at the Mentor Senior Center overnight, while police and emergency services secured the area. The stretch of Mentor Avenue extending from the Willoughby border to Ohio 306 was shut down until about 11:15 pm.
A resident who has lived in the mobile home park for 23 years described the community as typically very peaceful.
