An Oregon elementary school teacher who nearly lost her hand in a devastating school shooting has revealed how she lay perfectly still and pretended to be dead in hopes of surviving a teenager’s attack.
Becky Drury, 54, sustained life-changing injuries after a 16-year-old former student opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, during a deadly rampage last week. Three children and another teacher were killed.
In her first public comments since the October 15 massacre, Drury described the terrifying moment she was left on the classroom floor, unable to move or protect herself after being shot from close range.
The gunfire nearly severed her left hand, while her other arm suffered serious injuries.
With the attacker still in the area, the wounded teacher chose to stay completely still and hope he would assume she was already dead.
‘There was nothing else I could do, so I pretended to be dead and hoped he would not shoot me again,’ Drury said in an emotional statement released Wednesday.
Her testimony provides a chilling account of the violence inside the Oregon elementary school, where four people died and two others, including Drury, were left seriously injured.
Authorities said the attack began when the gunman, identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, fired through the school’s locked entrance doors before entering the building.
Becky Drury, 54, suffered severe injuries after a teenage gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon
Police said the former student then went into a special-needs classroom and began firing.
Drury said she heard a commotion outside her classroom and went to see what was happening, not realizing she was about to encounter the shooter.
‘I turned around to close the door, but he was already standing there,’ she wrote.
‘Before I had time to respond, he shot me at close range, and I collapsed onto the floor.’
The attack happened so quickly that Drury had no chance to react before being gravely wounded.
Once she was on the ground, she could see the extent of the injuries caused by the gunfire.
‘As I lay there, I saw that the gunshot had almost completely severed my left hand, and my other arm was badly injured too,’ she recalled.
‘I was unable to stand, defend myself, or help anyone else.’
Trapped on the floor and terrified that another shot could be fatal, Drury decided her only possible path to survival was to make the gunman believe she was no longer alive.
Silver Lake Elementary in Bend is pictured on Friday afternoon following Thursday’s shooting, which killed three students and a teacher
She stayed motionless on the floor, pretending to be dead while the deadly attack continued around her.
The teacher survived the ordeal, although the injuries she sustained were severe.
Doctors have described her condition as serious but not life-threatening.
Drury’s statement comes amid conflicting accounts of what happened inside the school and the actions taken by those caught in the violence.
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The wounded teacher said she felt compelled to speak out because she wanted to correct what she described as inaccurate reporting about her conduct during the shooting.
‘I want to make sure the events of that day and my actions in particular are reported accurately,’ she explained.
She emphasized that the speed of the attack had left her with no opportunity to intervene before she was wounded.
‘I know there has been contradictory reporting about my actions that day, but the truth is I was shot before I had any chance to act,’ Drury wrote.
People take part in a vigil for victims of the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting, the day after a shooting on October 16
Three students – ages five, eight and 11 – and one teacher were killed by the former student. The five-year-old was identified by his father as Rhoam Summer. The teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25
It was school picture day at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday when the massacre broke out
Her account makes clear that she was incapacitated almost immediately after encountering the gunman, leaving her unable to protect herself or anyone else.
She also paid tribute to the families and wider school community whose lives have been shattered by the killings.
‘What happened in that classroom was unimaginable, and like so many in this community, my heart is broken for everyone affected by this tragedy,’ she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for her medical bills.
The massacre claimed the lives of three young children, ages five, eight and eleven, along with a 25-year-old teacher. A seven-year-old student was also seriously injured in the shooting.
The identities of the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths have left the Bend community struggling to comprehend the scale of the tragedy.
The gunman, who had previously attended Silver Rail Elementary, was eventually confronted as the attack unfolded.
An armed bystander, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, followed the shooter into the school and subsequently shot him dead, bringing the rampage to an end.
Investigators have identified John as the person responsible for the attack, although authorities have not established a motive in the information released publicly.