Bend: Three children and a teacher were killed, while two others were critically injured in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, authorities said. According to CBS News, the 16-year-old male suspect was shot and killed by a bystander, police said.
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The children killed were aged 5, 8 and 11, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a news conference on Thursday night. The other two victims, a 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher, were taken to St. Charles Medical Center with critical injuries. Authorities had not immediately released the victims’ names.
Krantz said police received a 911 call shortly before 1 pm from a person who reported being shot at several times while inside a vehicle by a suspect carrying a long gun. Emergency dispatchers subsequently received dozens of calls reporting that the suspect had entered the school.
Officers arrived at the school within three minutes of the first emergency call and found that the suspect had been killed by a bystander, Krantz said.
“An officer reported that the 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 told reporters.
After entering the building, officers found the four deceased victims, the police chief said.
Authorities did not disclose the exact type of weapon used in the attack or how many rounds were fired. Police also said they had not established a motive or determined whether the suspect had any connection to the school.
Following the shooting, authorities evacuated the school and transported students and staff to a nearby church, where they could be reunited with their families, Krantz said.
Silver Rail Elementary serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Located more than 100 miles (160 kilometres) southeast of Portland, the school had 459 enrolled students as of last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education.
(With Inputs from agencies)
