A hero driver who tried to stop the Oregon school shooter has revealed the bullet-riddled damage to his Toyota Tacoma after the teen gunman fired multiple rounds at him.
The unidentified driver was the first person to call 911 around 1 p.m. Thursday, reporting that he was “being shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun” near Silver Rail elementary school in Bend, according to police. His emergency call came moments before the 16-year-old shooter entered the school and killed three young students and a teacher.
“Boom boom, through my canopy, shattered out the back window,” the driver said in a video he recorded, recalling the terrifying volley of shots fired at him.
“Shattered out that f–king window,” he added, panning the camera to his shattered rear window before moving to his windshield.
“[The bullet] went right through the f–king windshield. Right above my f–king head. Holy s–t.”
At least six large bullet holes pierced the driver’s red pickup truck, leaving the glass smashed and the frame damaged.
The driver survived the attack unharmed despite the bullets tearing through his vehicle’s canopy and narrowly missing him. His quick call to emergency services helped alert authorities to the unfolding crisis at the elementary school.
Before police could arrive at the scene, a hero bystander ran into the school and fatally shot the unidentified 16-year-old killer, law enforcement officials stated. By the time officers stormed the building, the shooter was already dead.
The massacre claimed the lives of three students, ages 5, 8 and 11, along with one teacher. Another student and teacher were critically injured in the attack and rushed for medical treatment.
The bystander who intervened has not been publicly identified, and police have not released additional details about how that confrontation unfolded inside the school.
The community of Bend, a city in central Oregon, was left reeling from the violence that erupted in what should have been an ordinary Thursday afternoon at an elementary school. The ages of the youngest victims underscored the devastating scope of a shooting that reached even the earliest grades.
The driver’s video testimony offered a raw firsthand account of the chaos that preceded the school assault, capturing both the physical destruction to his vehicle and his own stunned reaction to surviving the encounter. His decision to document the damage preserved evidence of the shooter’s path toward the school while also illustrating how close he came to becoming another casualty.
The 16-year-old shooter has not been named by authorities, and investigators have not yet disclosed a possible motive for the attack. The weapon used was described only as a long gun in the initial emergency report.
Another student and another teacher remained in critical condition following the shooting as the community began mourning the four lives lost.