Teenage Gunman Killed by Bystander After Bend School Attack

A 16-year-old boy shot dead three children and a teacher at a primary school in the American state of Oregon before a bystander pursued him into the building and killed him, police have said.

The suspect, who has not been named, forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in the city of Bend on Thursday afternoon by shooting at locked doors, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz confirmed. The three children killed were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in a critical condition. It is unclear whether the attacker had any links to the school.

The teenager was shot dead by a member of the community who “pursued him into the school and engaged him”, Krantz said. Officers arrived three minutes later. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised the bystander who “heroically intervened” to stop further loss of life. “Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” she said at a media briefing alongside other officials.

Police did not reveal details about the man who shot the teenager, but audio recordings of emergency medical services dispatch suggest he was the parent of a pupil. “Looks like the shooter has been neutralised, possibly shot by a father at the school,” a staff member is heard saying. Local media reported that the school had received new classroom doors in 2022 which can be locked with the flip of a switch.

Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil in Bend on Thursday evening, the local community coming together to share songs and prayers. Messages including “never again” and “be at peace” were written in chalk on the ground beside flowers and candles. “We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy,” Steven Cook, the top administrative official of the local school district, said in an emotional statement to reporters. “No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing.”

Police were alerted to an active shooter at Silver Rail Elementary at 12:59 local time. The first call came from a person who said an unknown suspect was shooting into their car with a long gun; photographs released from the scene show a red truck with bullet holes. Minutes later, the local county dispatch received 911 calls reporting that the attacker had entered the school, having shot at the locks on the doors to force his way inside.

Michael Kohn, a reporter with the Bulletin newspaper, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the school was in lockdown during the shooting and that students were able to communicate with parents outside using their Apple watches. “This is a neighbourhood school. Parents are stunned,” he said. “It’s just something you don’t expect to happen in Bend, Oregon. It’s a mountain town.”

Teacher Kathy Sheil Smith described to CNN affiliate KPTV how she tried to keep the children calm after spotting the gunman approach the school. “The looks on their faces was really hard to see,” she said. “Some kids were praying, some kids were consoling other kids. I’m sure that every teacher at the school thought ‘Today is the day that I am going to die.’”

Schools in Bend will be closed on Friday. Officials said the community needed time to heal. Around 450 children attend Silver Rail Elementary School, which has more than 40 adult staff members, police said.

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 235 shooting incidents at American schools last year and at least 140 so far this year. A person under the age of 18 cannot buy a firearm in Oregon. The state does allow juveniles to possess one with the permission of their parents, but only for certain uses such as hunting. Officials would not say what type of weapon was used in the attack or how many rounds were fired. Multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News the suspect used a shotgun. Oregon has passed a broad range of gun safety laws in recent years, placing it 12th out of 50 states in terms of their strictness, according to the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.

The attack has reignited a familiar American debate over firearms, yet again conducted in the shadow of dead children. Bend, a mountain town unaccustomed to such violence, now joins the long list of communities asking how a teenager obtained a weapon and why nothing prevented him from using it.