Oregon shooting: Police identify suspect and 2 of 4 victims in deadly attack at a Bend elementary school
Oregon shooting: Police identify suspect and 2 of 4 victims in deadly attack at a Bend elementary school
Officials said the suspect, who carried out the shooting in a special education classroom, was previously a special needs student at the school.
A teacher and one of the three children who were killed in Thursday’s mass shooting at a Bend, Ore., elementary school were identified on Friday during a press conference in which authorities provided additional details about the incident. The 16-year-old suspect, who was killed by a community member within minutes of opening fire at the school, was also identified.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Friday that Rhoam Summer, a 5-year-old student, and Meghan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher, were among the four victims in a special education classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School.
In a statement, Lambert’s family described her as a native central Oregonian who grew up in Bend and had a passion for playing sports, especially volleyball.
“Her goal was to be an educator and teach in the school district she loved growing up in,” the statement continued. “Silver Rail was her first job as a teacher. … She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job. Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs. She was an incredible sister, daughter, niece and granddaughter. … She was funny and opinionated and she lit up the room.”
Community members grieve at the site of a makeshift memorial in front of Silver Rail Elementary School.
(Mathieu Lewis-Rolland via Getty Images)The shooter was identified as Griffin John II. He was a former student at the school who had received special ed services, according to Bend-La Pine School Superintendent Steven Cook.
The names of the two other victims, who were 8 and 11 years old, have not been made public.
A 7-year-old student and a teacher were hospitalized with critical injuries after the incident. The child, who has not been identified, is in “serious, but stable, condition,” Krantz said. The wounded teacher was identified by the AP as Becky Drury, an educational assistant at Silver Rail Elementary.
According to a Facebook post from her mother-in-law, Drury has already had surgery to repair significant damage to her left arm and will need more surgeries in the future. She also suffered injuries to her right hand, but none of her wounds are believed to be life-threatening.
“The good news is she will be ok and we all get to keep that magnificent woman we love so much in our lives,” the post read.
Police declined to confirm the name of the bystander who killed John, but he had previously been identified by the Associated Press as Kyle Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident and the father of two young daughters at the school.
“He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel and community for the outpouring of love and support,” Giamanco’s mother, Kenda Freeman, said while reading a prepared statement to reporters outside her son’s home near the school.
“I don’t think we can underestimate or underappreciate [his] courage,” Krantz said Friday, referring to Giamanco’s decision to intervene. “When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. And the quick thinking to … follow someone into the school is incredible, and undoubtedly saved people.”
Other than John’s past association with the school, police did not share any information on the potential motive behind the shooting.
“Everyone wants to know why, including us,” Krantz said. “We may never get that full answer, but we want it.”
Krantz said John used a Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action shotgun in the shooting. He declined to comment on where he acquired the gun.
How the shooting unfolded
Flowers are placed beside a sign at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Friday.
(AP Photo/Haven Daley)Krantz provided new details about what happened in the chaotic few minutes from when John first opened fire outside the school to when he was killed.
According to Krantz, John approached the school at approximately 12:58 p.m. on foot before throwing his gun over an exterior fence and climbing onto the school’s property.
A driver in a red pickup truck spotted John and “verbally confronted” him from inside their vehicle. John fired at least three rounds at the truck before heading inside. The driver, who was unhurt, quickly called 911 to alert police.
John then walked around the outside of the school and fired multiple rounds into the glass panes of an exterior door to gain access to the school. He then turned left into a special education classroom and immediately began firing. In total, John fired as many as 15 rounds, Krantz said.
Giamanco, who had seen John fire at the pickup truck, parked his car in the school parking lot, grabbed his pistol and began following John’s path into the school.
As he entered through the shot-out doors, Giamanco found a teacher involved in a physical altercation with John. He fired several rounds from his pistol, striking John multiple times.
Officers arrived at the scene within three minutes of the first 911 call. “Seconds later, officers reported the suspect had been shot and killed, possibly by a bystander,” police wrote in an incident report on Thursday. Officers then cleared the school, and all students and staff were transported to a nearby church for reunification with families and guardians.
According to Krantz, John was carrying an additional 44 rounds of ammunition when he was killed.
No other students other than the three who were killed and the one who was injured were in the classroom at the time, Krantz said. There was no School Resource Officer present at the school.
‘They’re babies’
People leave a family reunification area following a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Thursday.
(AP Photo/Joe Kline)Witnesses described hearing gunshots and seeing police swarm the school.
“I heard what I thought was gunshots,” Erin Johnson, who was visiting her parents next door to the school, told Oregon Public Broadcasting on Thursday. “Then my neighbor began to scream shortly thereafter — her kids go to school there, at Silver Rail. Then I heard the police coming in.”
She added: “It’s heartbreaking. I don’t know any details right now about who was injured. But they’re babies.”
Krista Johnson told OregonLive that she saw police swarm the school. “So many people stopping what they were doing,” she said Thursday. “I knew that something had happened.”
Angela Nuchols told the Bend Source that she and her husband had dressed their 8-year-old daughter up for picture day before school, then raced to Silver Rail after hearing about the shooting.
“It was crawling with police officers from all over the county,” she said. “You’ve got guys in tactical gear, rifles. You’re just scared to death wondering, is your child okay? You don’t know.” They were later reunited with their daughter.
“It was like the worst three hours of our lives,” Nuchols said.
Thousands attended a vigil at Bend’s Drake Park on Thursday night, many carrying candles, flowers and stuffed toys.
“There is power and love in this park tonight,” Kotek said at the vigil, according to OregonLive. “On behalf of everyone who lives in Oregon, I am so sorry for what you are experiencing today. No parent, no family, no community should have to have this kind of day.”
Free counseling is being offered to anyone in the community who may need help dealing the emotional weight of the tragedy. As of Friday afternoon, close to 200 people had already utilized those services, according to Deschutes County Health Services Director Mary Harris.
The Bend Education Association, which represents 1,000 educators in the city, released a statement emphasizing the work that will be needed to ensure that every student and teacher affected by the shooting has the support that they need.
“When violence happens in one of our schools, it reaches far beyond that building,” the group’s president, Sarah Barclay, wrote on social media. “It affects our families, our colleagues, and communities across our country. Every student and every person who works in our schools deserves to be safe.”
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