Confrontation over appointment time preceded Vancouver shooting near PeaceHealth

By Jessica Prokop, Columbian Assistant Metro Editor

Published: December 28, 2020, 12:37pm

A police officer talks on his cell phone while officials congregate in front of a building where a shooting reportedly occurred on Tuesday, December 22, at the 505 building at the PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. (Joshua Hart/The Columbian)

A Vancouver man who fatally shot an employee at a PeaceHealth medical building last week had confronted another employee a few minutes earlier over his appointment time, according to court documents.

Douglas Jeffrey Moore, 58, had arrived between 12:20 and 12:50 p.m. Dec. 22 at the Medical Center Physician’s Building, 505 N.E. 87th Ave., for a post-operative appointment. He was a couple of hours early, however, and was told he couldn’t be seen until his appointment time. He became agitated and left, court documents state.

Minutes later, Moore returned to the building and shot 20-year-old Liliya Zagariya, who was working as a concierge in the lobby. Then he turned the weapon on himself. They both died.

The new information, which sheds light on what precipitated the shooting, was included in search warrant affidavits filed Thursday in Clark County District Court.

The affidavits, authored by Vancouver police Detective Jason Mills, cite evidence of first-degree murder and sought permission to search both the crime scene and a black 1998 Toyota Tacoma pickup registered to Moore. The search warrants were approved by District Court Judges Darvin Zimmerman and Sonya Langsdorf on Dec. 22 and 23, respectively.

Moore’s pickup was located in a parking lot northeast of the building. Vancouver police seized it.

“At the time of the discovery of Douglas’ vehicle, there was and remains no identified motive or relationship between Douglas and the victim,” the affidavit reads.

Investigators said they believe there may be evidence inside the pickup that may provide insight and a possible motive for the shooting.

One of the search warrant affidavits states that among the items recovered from the shooting scene were a Taurus Millennium G2 9 mm pistol with a magazine and ammunition, 9 mm shell casings with punched primer, a black Uncle Mike’s brand holster and medication bottles belonging to Moore.

Moore reportedly was licensed to carry a concealed pistol.

Chaos in the lobby

According to the search warrant affidavits, an employee at the medical building called 911 at 12:58 p.m. to report hearing gunshots near the front lobby. She said people were down on the floor hiding and that two people had suffered gunshot wounds.

At the time of the call, the shooter’s whereabouts were unknown, but the caller said the shooter had dropped the firearm on the floor, one of the affidavits states.

Vancouver police and Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded to the building, which is located north of PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and houses several outpatient medical offices.

Upon arrival, officers confirmed the shooting had occurred in the ground-floor lobby and that the shooter, later identified as Moore, was one of the people wounded, according to the affidavits.

Moore and Zagariya were taken to the nearby hospital where they were later pronounced dead. On Wednesday, the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide and his a suicide.

The building where the shooting occurred is owned and managed by Pacific Medical Buildings Real Estate Services. PeaceHealth Southwest offers numerous services in the building, including the Vision Center, Oncology and Infusion, Maternal Fetal Medicine, PeaceHealth Medical Group Family Medicine and the Sleep Disorders Clinic. It was not clear where Moore had his appointment.

Follow The Columbian on Instagram

Earlier confrontation

A patient care representative, identified as Shoun Acoba, who works in a second-floor office of the building, told investigators he saw the victim and suspect. He said the suspect appeared to be the same man whom he had an earlier, minor confrontation with in his medical office, according to one of the affidavits. Acoba identified the patient as Douglas Moore.

Investigators confirmed Moore’s identity based on his Washington identification and other cards found in his wallet.

The Columbian searched Washington public records for Moore but did not find any felony criminal history for him.

His victim, Zagariya of Vancouver, volunteered as an emergency medical technician with Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue in Kelso. She received her national EMT certificate in January, according to the agency’s records.

Cowlitz 2 Lt. Bryan Ditterick previously told The Columbian that Zagariya planned to enroll in the agency’s fire academy next month to become a full-fledged paramedic.