Police in Bend, Oregon, were investigating on Friday why a 16-year-old boy shot dead three children and a teacher at the Silver Rail Elementary School, and how he got hold of the long gun used in his attack.
The latest deadly school shooting in the United States unfolded on Thursday afternoon when the teenager, who has not been publicly identified, shot through a locked door at the school in central Oregon, according to the Bend Police Department.
The teenager killed three children aged five, eight and 11 and one teacher before he himself was shot dead by an armed bystander who had pursued him into the school, Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a Thursday evening press conference.
Such shootings have become common in the US, with each one reviving debates over gun laws in a country where a right to “keep and bear Arms” is protected under the Constitution’s Second Amendment.
Bystander intervened
The bystander has not been publicly identified by police, though recordings of 911 emergency calls released by authorities include a dispatcher saying he was possibly a father of a child at the school.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said at the press conference that the bystander “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.”
Beyond those killed, a seven-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with critical injuries.
It was not clear if the shooter had any prior connection to the school, which has about 450 students from kindergarten through the fifth grade, roughly ages five to 11, and 40 staff members.
CBS News, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported that the attacker used a shotgun that his mother had purchased. Officials at the Bend Police Department did not immediately respond to questions on Friday.
Gun law debates
Some of the deadliest school attacks in the US include 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.
Advocates for gun-owners’ rights have argued for arming teachers as a means of defence. The Gun Owners of America advocacy group pointed to the armed bystander’s intervention in Bend as evidence for their position.
Residents of the small city of Bend were left grieving after the attack, which unfolded in minutes, with emergency responders receiving a call at 12.59pm PDT (7.59pm GMT) from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone with a long gun, police said.
In the minutes afterwards, dozens of calls were received saying the shooter had entered the school. Officers arrived at 1.02pm and moments later an officer reported the shooter had been killed, police said. Officers entered and confirmed the teenager was dead.