A Mentor community remembers victims of deadly shooting 1 year later

MENTOR, Ohio (WOIO) - It has been one year since an active shooter opened fire at the Mentor Green Mobile Estates, in Mentor.

Four people died that day, including the gunman who took his own life.

For one 90-year-old resident of the mobile home park who lived just two doors down from the shooter, November 16th, 2023, will always haunt him.

The resident asked 19 News not to use his name. But he says he witnessed a neighbor who saved his life - get shot when that neighbor went outside to try and help property manager Laura Colon, 62, who later died from her injuries, "The neighbor came out and looked at her and wanted to see if she's still living. So, when he came out and looked that's when he was shot. I was inside of his trailer and that really scared me - so I got down on the floor. I didn't know what was happening or when it was going to end."

The gunman, Jason Norris, 47 who lived in trailer 84 had received an eviction notice earlier in the day. His actions took the lives of the property manager and two other residents, 63-year-old Terrance Mathis, Sr. and Thomas Galiza. The other man who was injured was hospitalized for a short time and released.

At least 30 residents at the mobile home park were evacuated for their own safety and several SWAT teams were called to help.

Mentor Police and all of the first responders on the scene that day saved lives. Police were on the scene just two minutes after the first 911 call.

The 90-year-old resident who still lives there says he was in his car when the property manager was killed and to this day doesn't know why he didn't just drive out of the park. But his neighbor saw him and hustled him into his trailer where he remained safe.

But even one year after the deadly tragedy trailer 84 which belonged to the shooter remains on the property at Mentor Green Mobile Estates. The windows were still shattered from the gunfire—a painful and unsettling memory of a tragedy that forever changed lives.