Oregon gunman fired shotgun at pickup truck before storming into school and killing three children ages 5, 8 and 11 and teacher
A 16-year-old gunman opened fire on a pickup truck in the car park of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, before entering the building on Thursday. He killed three children, aged five, eight and 11, and a teacher; the attack has left the community mourning and raised urgent questions about school safety.
Witnesses said the driver confronted the teenager, who fired several shots, breaking a window and leaving bullet holes in the truck. Police said the gunman, reportedly carrying a shotgun bought by his mother, shot through locked school doors. A community member followed him inside and shot him dead. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with critical injuries.
- A 16-year-old killed three children and a teacher at a Bend school.
- He reportedly fired at a pickup truck before entering the building.
- A community member shot the gunman dead; two others were critically injured.
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Silver Rail Elementary School is a primary school in Bend, a city in the US state of Oregon. The children killed were aged five, eight and 11; a teacher also died. In the United States, school shootings have prompted long-running debate about how schools can be kept safe and how guns are obtained and used.
Police say the attacker was 16 and had a shotgun reportedly bought by his mother. A community member followed him into the school and shot him dead. The deaths and serious injuries have left families and neighbours grieving, while questions about the school’s security and the circumstances of the attack remain.