A 16-year-old gunman reportedly forced his way through a security entrance designed to protect students before killing three children and a teacher at an Oregon elementary school. The attack was stopped when an armed bystander, believed to be the father of a student, confronted the teenager.
The unidentified teenager was carrying a long gun when he arrived at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend shortly before 1 p.m. PT on Thursday, according to The Oregonian. Investigators say he fired at the locks on the school’s secure vestibules to gain entry.
The vestibules are designed to create an additional barrier between the outside world and the classrooms. Visitors are first admitted into a locked porch area, where they are screened before a second electronic door allows access to the school.
Despite those precautions, the gunman reportedly shot through the locks and reached the school’s special education area. Three children, aged five, eight and 11, and a teacher were killed. A seven-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in critical condition.
Fifth-grade teacher Kathy Sheil Smith said she saw the unidentified shooter as he approached the school grounds.
In an emotional interview with KPTV on Thursday, Smith recalled seeing the teenager holding a long gun. She immediately contacted the main office, then moved her students into a corner of the classroom as the attack unfolded.
“They were so afraid—the looks on their faces,” Smith said. “It was really hard to see. I was just trying to calm them down.”
She added: “Some kids were praying, and some kids were consoling other kids, but they were doing it quietly because they know you don’t make any noise.”
Smith and her students appear to have survived because a bystander saw the teenager and followed him into the building. The man reportedly shot the gunman soon after the attack began, bringing the rampage to an end.
Police dispatch audio indicated that the armed bystander may have been a parent with a child at the school. Multiple news organizations cited a transmission saying: “It looks like the shooter has been neutralized, possibly shot by a father at the school.”
Kathy Sheil Smith told KPTV that she saw the unidentified gunman approaching the school grounds.
Two young women attend a Thursday night vigil for the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting victims in Oregon as two people nearby embrace.
Children attend a Thursday night vigil for victims of the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon.
Several major questions remained unanswered Friday morning. Authorities had not released the shooter’s identity or discussed a possible motive, and it was unclear whether he had previously attended the school.
Officials also had not identified the victims or the bystander who shot the teenager. His intervention may have prevented the attack from claiming even more lives.
The Good Samaritan was reportedly sitting in a red Toyota Tacoma outside the school when he noticed the armed teenager approaching the Silver Rail building.
After becoming alarmed by what he saw, the driver confronted the teenager. The gunman responded by firing several rounds toward the truck.
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the teenager used a pump-action shotgun that had been purchased by his mother.
Images shared online showed at least three bullet holes along the lower section of the Toyota’s passenger-side door, with two more visible near the front of the door. Additional rounds damaged the paint at the bottom of the truck bed.
The rear passenger-side window also appeared to have been completely blown out, leaving no visible glass in the frame.
After opening fire on the truck, the assailant allegedly threw his gun over the school fence and hopped over – prompting the driver to call Deschutes County dispatchers at around 12.59pm.
As Bend police officers then raced to the scene, the gunman shot at the school’s locked doors.
It is unclear how far into the building before being killed.
The identities of those killed and injured have not been disclosed, nor has the identity of the hero gunman who killed the shooter
The teenager was holding on to the firearm when a man in a pickup idling outside noticed he was heading towards the school, personnel are seen here working the scene on Thursday
A woman lights a candle during a candlelight vigil at Drake Park for victims of the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting
Families are seen at a reunification center after Thursday’s shooting at Silver Lake Elementary School, which saw a 16-year-old gunman kill three young children and a teacher before being shot dead
A woman grieves at a candlelight memorial out front of Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday evening
Floral tributes are seen outside Silver Lake Elementary School in Oregon Thursday evening, after a shooting that killed three young students and a teacher
Cops arrived at the scene by 1.02pm but just moments later they were informed that the lone gunman was shot and killed by an unidentified community member who had followed the teenager into the building.
When officers then entered the building, they were able to confirm that the suspect was dead.
Out of an abundance of precaution, the police officers who rushed to the scene went room by room to evacuate the building as they worked to confirm there were no additional threats to the community.
Other police officers clad in bullet-proof vests and carrying assault rifles were seen peering into the vehicles parked at the school’s lot, while parents, teachers and children huddled together, embracing and wiping tears from their faces.
Families are seen here leaving a meeting area set up outside the school following the events of Thursday
A motive for the shooting remains unclear, authorities would not confirm whether the suspect knew anybody at the school or if he had attended it when he was younger
Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Dr Steven Cook held back tears as he thanked emergency responders and the school’s staff for their efforts to protect students during the attack.
‘Today, an unthinkable tragedy happened at Silver Rail Elementary School,’ he began.
‘We are heartbroken. We are horrified. This is the kind of thing you hear about in other places and pray that it never happens here… today it happened to our children, our teachers and our families.’
A vigil for those killed and injured was held in Downtown Bend Thursday. The Central Oregon city of 120,000 people has been voted one of the best places to live in the United States.
It is a popular destination for outdoor pursuits and offers incredible skiing and hikes in the nearby Cascades mountain range, as well as Smith Rock State Park.
The school district has now canceled all classes, activities and athletic events that were scheduled for Friday.