At least four people, including three children and a teacher, have been killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, in the northwestern United States, according to local police.
The incident occurred on Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School, located about 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Portland.
Bend Police Chief, Mike Krantz said the children who died were aged five, eight and eleven. A teacher was also among the fatalities.
Two other victims, a seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher, were taken to St Charles Medical Center in Bend with critical injuries.
Speaking at a news conference in the afternoon, Krantz identified the suspected gunman as a 16-year-old resident of Bend who was killed at the scene. Authorities have not disclosed the suspect’s identity.
“What the initial investigation is showing is that the shooter had forced their way into the school by shooting at locked doors,” Krantz said, adding that investigators were still trying to establish whether the teenager had previously attended the school.
Police and other emergency responders began receiving distress calls at about 12:59pm local time (19:59 GMT), followed by dozens of additional calls within minutes.
According to Krantz, the first report came from “a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun”.
The school was placed on lockdown at 1:01pm (20:01 GMT), with police officers arriving shortly afterwards.
“Moments later, an officer reported that a suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him,” Krantz said.
He explained that officers subsequently entered the building, confirmed the suspect was dead and searched the premises to establish whether any further threats remained before providing emergency assistance to the victims.
“Our officers entered the building and confirmed the suspect was dead. They cleared the school to ensure there were no additional threats and then rendered emergency aid to the victims,” he said.
Krantz said investigations into the shooting were continuing, adding that the police would release further information to the public in the coming days.
Three children, teacher killed in US elementary school shooting