Shooting at Oregon primary school results in four fatalities

A 16-year-old shot and killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon before being shot dead by a bystander, according to police. The suspect, whose identity has not been released, gained entry to the school by shooting at locked doors. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz stated that a community member pursued the suspect into the school and engaged him. The deceased children were aged five, eight, and eleven. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were hospitalized in critical condition. The motive and any potential connection between the attacker and the school remain unclear. The suspect was killed shortly after local law enforcement arrived. Steven Cook, the administrative official of the local school district, expressed the community's grief, stating, "We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy." Emergency services responded to reports of an active shooter at 12:59 PM local time. The first call reported that an unknown suspect was shooting into a vehicle with a long gun. Minutes later, multiple 911 calls indicated that the attacker had entered the school. Police reported that the shooter forced entry by shooting at the locks on the doors. A bystander witnessed the shooting, followed the attacker into the school, and shot him. Officers arrived three minutes later and confirmed the suspect's death. The identities of the victims, the attacker, and the bystander have not been released. Schools in Bend were closed on Friday to allow the community time to heal. Silver Rail Elementary School serves approximately 450 children and has over 40 adult staff members. Local media indicated that the school had installed new doors in 2022 that can lock classrooms with a flip of a switch. The K-12 School Shooting Database reported 235 shooting incidents at American schools last year and at least 140 incidents so far this year, including this one.