Shooter kills four at Oregon elementary school before being shot dead by community member

Dawn · 16/10/2026، 4:50:22 AM

A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, killing four people including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said. The shooter entered Silver Rail Elementary School by firing through locked doors, police said, without offering any details beyond the suspect’s age. The dead were children aged 5, 8 and 11 and one teacher. In addition, a 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with critical injuries, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told a press conference. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, appearing at the same briefing, thanked the community member who “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.” “No parent should have to have this kind of day, and no community 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,” Kotek said. Krantz said the community member, whom he did not identify, saw the suspect enter the school and pursued him. School shootings have become a recurring feature of American life, including high-profile attacks such as those at Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022. Each shooting revives debates over gun laws in a country where gun rights are protected under the Constitution’s second amendment. Gun rights advocates have argued for arming teachers as a means of defence. Police trained for mass shooting Krantz said every Bend police officer went through a full day of active shooter training in August. “Unfortunately, this is something we train for on a regular basis, and we must,” Krantz said. “This is going to be a long investigatio