A 16-year-old gunman used his mother’s pump-action shotgun to kill three children and a teacher at an Oregon elementary school after firing at a pickup truck in the parking lot, authorities said.
The Bend resident, who has not been publicly identified, was spotted near Silver Rail Elementary School just before 1 p.m. Thursday by a man driving a red Toyota Tacoma, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The teen was carrying the shotgun, which his mother had purchased.
The driver confronted the armed teen, who then opened fire on the truck. The rear window shattered and at least six large bullet holes were left in the vehicle. The boy allegedly tossed the weapon over a fence, jumped onto school property, retrieved it, and fired several shots at the locks to break into the kindergarten-through-fifth-grade building.
The pickup driver called emergency dispatchers to report he had been “shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun,” the Bend Source reported. Police arrived within three minutes of the first 911 call.
Three students, ages 5, 8 and 11, were fatally shot inside the school. A teacher was also killed. Another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, were hospitalized in critical condition.
The teen was “shot by a community member who had seen [him] enter the school, pursued him into the school, and engaged him,” Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a Thursday press conference. Authorities did not disclose whether the heroic bystander held a concealed weapons permit.
Oregon law requires buyers to be 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns. Those under 18 may possess non-handgun weapons with parental consent. It remains unclear whether the shooter had his mother’s permission to use the weapon.
The Bend La Pine school district had previously banned all individuals, including those with concealed handgun licenses, from carrying firearms on district property, according to a 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting report. A separate state provision does permit lawfully possessed guns on school grounds if unloaded and locked in a vehicle.
Chief Krantz has cautioned that the investigation will be “long,” and officials have expressed deep grief over the violence.
“Our kids are getting shredded,” Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Oregon) lamented to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday.
“The most heartbreaking thing, as the details have surfaced, is that we have a child involved in the killing of other children,” she continued. “Multiple families are being impacted. This continues to happen.”
Former Bend Mayor Jeff Eager said the attack shattered the city’s sense of sanctuary.
“You can’t imagine that it happens here,” he said.
“Bend is a place that people move to from bigger cities,” Eager added. “They move here because it’s relatively safe here, they move here because we have schools you can walk your kids to.”
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek thanked the bystander who “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life” but emphasized that no one “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,” she said.
Authorities have not said whether the shooter previously attended Silver Rail Elementary or knew any of his victims.