An Oregon school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend left three children and a teacher dead after a 16-year-old gunman allegedly opened fire at a pickup truck before entering the building, witnesses said.
The victims were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with critical injuries.
The teenager was carrying a shotgun when the driver of a red Toyota Tacoma noticed him heading towards the school, which was in session. The driver confronted him, prompting the gunman to fire several shots at the vehicle.
The truck’s rear passenger-side window was shattered and its body was left with a number of bullet holes. The gunman then reportedly threw the weapon over the school fence and climbed after it.
The driver called Deschutes County dispatchers at about 12.59pm. As Bend police officers were responding, the teenager fired at the school’s locked doors and was reportedly able to get inside.
A community member followed him into the building and shot him dead, authorities said. Officers arrived at about 1.02pm and later confirmed that the suspect had been killed.
Police nevertheless searched the school room by room and evacuated the building as they checked for any further threat. Officers wearing body armour and carrying rifles were seen searching vehicles in the car park while parents and children gathered nearby.
Parents wait for children after Oregon school shooting
Families were directed to Journey Church, where children were reunited with their parents and relatives. The youngest pupils were evacuated first.
Mindy Corley, whose nephew is a fifth-grader at the school, said he had been able to tell his mother that he was safe but was “very, very scared and wanted to go home.”
Martha Close, the grandmother of a ten-year-old pupil, said the reunion process “seemed to take forever”, adding: “I just prayed.”
Steven and Angela Nuchols said they had taken their eight-year-old daughter, Charlotte, to school for picture day that morning before racing back after hearing of the attack.
“You’re just scared to death wondering is your child OK? You don’t know,” Angela Nuchols said. The couple were later reunited with their daughter, but described the wait as “the worst three hours of our lives”.
Bend-La Pine Schools superintendent Dr Steven Cook fought back tears as he thanked staff and emergency responders for protecting pupils.
“Today, an unthinkable tragedy happened at Silver Rail Elementary School,” he said. “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.”
He urged residents to support one another, saying: “Please hold your loved ones tight tonight… We are going to rally and care for one another… We will get through this.”
The motive remained unclear. Authorities did not say whether the suspect knew anyone at the school or had attended it in the past.
A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said the teenager had used a pump-action shotgun bought by his mother. FBI agents from Portland and officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local investigators.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised the community member who “heroically intervened” and said: “My heart is absolutely broken today. No parent should have to have this kind of day.”
Classes, activities and sporting events across the school district scheduled for Friday were cancelled.
