Teen shooter who killed 4 at Oregon elementary school was a former student, police say

BEND, Ore. — A teacher threw her phone at the teenage gunman who killed four people at an Oregon elementary school, then tackled and fought with him — likely saving lives before he was shot by a father who followed him into the building, police said Friday. City of Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called the teacher's actions “heroic” during a news conference and said she was not injured. He identified the attacker as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II and said all of the victims were shot in the same classroom. John was once a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary, authorities said, and he attacked a classroom with special needs students. He fired as many as 15 shots from a 12-gauge shotgun and had about 44 rounds remaining when he was killed, Krantz said. “Everyone wants to know why, including us,” he said. “We may never get that full answer, but we want it.” Investigators are trying to determine how the shooter obtained the pump-action shotgun, Krantz added. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press it was bought by his mother. The