BEND, Oct 16 — A 16-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon on Thursday afternoon (early this morning in Malaysia), killing four people, including three children, before being shot dead by an armed community member who pursued him into the school, police said.
The gunman entered Silver Rail Elementary School by shooting through locked doors, police said, without providing further details about the suspect beyond his age.
The victims were three children, aged five, eight and 11, and a teacher. A seven-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were also taken to hospital with critical injuries, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told a press conference.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, speaking at the same briefing, thanked the community member who "heroically intervened to stop further loss of life".
"No parent should have to have this kind of day, and no community should have to live through this kind of day.
"And as we learn more about the children and the adults who have been killed or injured, and their families and their loved ones, we are going to do a lot of crying, and we are going to cry together, and we're probably going to cry privately," Kotek said.
Krantz said the community member, whose identity was not disclosed, saw the suspect enter the school and pursued him.
School shootings have become a recurring tragedy in the United States, including high-profile attacks at Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.
Each shooting reignites debate over gun laws in a country where the right to bear arms is protected under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Gun rights advocates have argued that arming teachers could help defend schools against such attacks.
Police trained for mass shootings
Krantz said every Bend police officer underwent a full day of active shooter training in August.
"Unfortunately, this is something we train for on a regular basis, and we must," Krantz said. "This is going to be a long investigation."
The shooting occurred in Bend, a city of about 100,000 people in rural central Oregon, approximately 280km southeast of Portland, in the Oregon high desert near the Deschutes National Forest.
Silver Rail Elementary School serves pupils from kindergarten through fifth grade, generally aged five to 11, and has about 450 students and 40 staff members, officials said.
Gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, a former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in 2011, said in a statement that she was "heartbroken" by the attack in Bend.
"This cannot continue to be a reality in our country. Leaders at every level must step up and act," Giffords said.
Emergency responders received a call at 12.59 pm on Thursday (3.59 am today in Malaysia) from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at repeatedly by someone armed with a long gun, Krantz said.
In the following minutes, authorities received dozens of calls reporting that the gunman had entered the school.
Law enforcement officers immediately instructed the school to go into lockdown, Krantz said.
Police arrived at 1.02 pm, and moments later, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot.
Officers entered the school and confirmed that the gunman was dead, Krantz said.
