Three young children and a teacher were killed Thursday when a 16-year-old shot his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. The children were 5, 8 and 11. A community member who saw the teenager go into the school followed him inside and shot and killed him before police arrived, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said.
A 7-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher were in critical condition at St. Charles Medical Center. Police haven’t named the victims or the shooter and haven’t said why he did it, NBC News reported.
What happened at Silver Rail Elementary School?
At 12:59 p.m. Pacific time, a driver called 911 to say they were being “shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun,” Krantz said. Within minutes, dispatchers got dozens of calls about a shooter entering the K-5 school, which has more than 400 students. The gunman forced his way in by shooting through locked doors. The school went into lockdown at 1:01 p.m., and the first officers arrived at 1:02, when they learned a community member had already shot the suspect. Police haven’t said how far into the building he got.
An EMS radio dispatch described the shooter as “possibly shot by a father at the school,” CNN reported, but officials have only called the person a “community member.” Gov. Tina Kotek said that person “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.”
How did a 16-year-old get the gun?
That’s one of the biggest open questions. Authorities haven’t said. In Oregon, you have to be 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun, but minors can legally possess long guns with a parent’s consent. The ATF ran an urgent trace on the weapon Thursday night. The FBI is also helping, and Krantz warned, “This is going to be a long investigation.” CNN counted this as the 36th shooting on K-12 school grounds this year.
How is Bend responding?
All Bend-La Pine schools and activities are canceled Friday, and crisis counselors are available to students, families and staff. A large crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil at Drake Park on Thursday night. “This is the kind of thing you hear about in other places and pray that it never happens here. And it has happened here today,” Superintendent Steven Cook said.
The BeezLoop Take
Three kids who went to school on a Thursday afternoon aren’t coming home, and neither is their teacher. Before the arguments start, that’s where this should begin. Their families deserve the space to grieve.
Then come the questions that matter. How did a 16-year-old get a long gun he couldn’t legally buy, and did anyone around him see warning signs? Oregon’s laws already let minors hold rifles with a parent’s OK. If that’s how he got it, the adult who allowed it should answer for it. And whoever ran into that school to stop him likely saved lives that day.
The open question: where did the shooter get the gun, and will anyone be held responsible for letting him have it?
Also on BeezLoop: two children, 4 and 10, were shot dead in Los Angeles’ Pico-Union.
Sources: NBC News · CNN · KPTV (video)
