In the winter of 2020, a tragedy unfolded in Vancouver, Washington, cutting short the promising life of 20-year-old Liliya Nikolayevna Zagariya. A young woman with a compassionate spirit and aspirations of becoming a paramedic, Liliya was working as a concierge at a medical building near PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center on December 22nd. Known to her friends and colleagues at Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue as 'Lili,' she was a volunteer emergency medical technician who had earned her national EMT
certificate earlier that year and was preparing to enter the fire academy.
On that Tuesday afternoon, the normalcy of her workday was shattered when a man, later identified as 58-year-old Douglas Moore of Vancouver, entered the lobby. In what authorities have described as a seemingly random act of violence, Moore shot Liliya in the chest before turning the gun on himself. Court documents indicate that shortly before the shooting, Moore had a confrontation with another employee regarding an appointment time. Both Liliya and Moore were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Clark County Medical Examiner's Office officially ruled Liliya's death a homicide and Moore's a suicide. The investigation into the incident pointed towards a murder-suicide, with no prior known connection between Liliya and the perpetrator. The sudden and violent nature of her death sent shockwaves through the community, particularly among her colleagues at the fire department who remembered her as an energetic and valuable team member with a 'service heart.' In the wake of this devastating event, no further suspects were sought, and no arrests were made as the sole person responsible had taken his own life.
