A 16-year-old gunman shot and killed three children and a teacher at an Oregon elementary school on Thursday before an armed bystander stopped the attack.
The teenager forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary in Bend by shooting through locked doors just after 13:00 local time. Police chief Mike Krantz confirmed officers arrived within minutes of the first emergency calls.
An armed community member saw the shooter enter the building, followed him inside and shot him dead before police arrived at the scene.
Emergency workers found three children dead at the school. The victims were five, eight and 11 years old. A seven-year-old child and a teacher (54) remain in critical condition at a local hospital.
Armed bystander stops attack
The first call to police came from someone who reported being shot at by a person carrying a long gun. Dozens of calls then flooded in reporting an active shooter at the school.
“Moments later, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him,” Krantz told reporters.
Officers entered the building at 13:02 and confirmed the shooter was dead.
The school has between 400 and 450 students and more than 40 staff members. After a lockdown, police escorted children on buses to a separate location where parents waited to collect them.
Community in shock
Bend residents gathered at Drake Park on Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil. Betsy, who attended the memorial, said she felt shocked and scared.
“It’s awful, but it also has brought people together,” she said.
Steve Cook, superintendent of the Bend-La Pine School District, called the shooting “an unthinkable tragedy” at an emotional press conference.
“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,” Cook said.
The district cancelled all Friday classes, activities and sports events across its schools.
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Calls for gun reform
Gun safety groups renewed calls for stricter firearms laws following the attack. The United States has recorded more than 360 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Oregon congresswoman Janelle Bynum said politicians needed to act. “They’re killing our babies. Shredding our kids with lead. Forcing us to live in fear,” she said in a statement.
“This continues to happen, and it seems as if the adults don’t care,” Bynum told CNN.
Bend sits about 270km southeast of Portland in northwest Oregon. Silver Rail Elementary teaches students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
The deadliest school shooting in US history happened at Virginia Tech in April 2007, when a student killed 32 people and wounded 17 others before taking his own life.
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