Teen gunman kills 3 schoolchildren, teacher

Police officials say a 16-year-old shot his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Oct. 15 before a bystander followed him inside and shot him dead.

At the scene, authorities found a 54-year-old teacher and three children, aged 5, 8 and 11, dead, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz. A 7-year-old child and another teacher were rushed to the hospital with critical injuries.

Authorities have not released the name of the suspect or the victims, and the motive for the attack remains unknown. Police said they didn't know whether the gunman had any connection to the school or the victims. At a news conference, officials praised the first responders and the bystander who confronted the shooter.

"My heart is absolutely broken today, and our hearts will stay broken in the days and weeks ahead," Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said. She said the bystander "heroically intervened to stop further loss of life."

The shooting is the 28th mass killing of the year in the United States, of which 21 are shootings, according to James Alan Fox of the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil held hours after the shooting, where church leaders and officials spoke of the shock and pain gripping the community. Meanwhile, the local school district canceled classes and all extracurricular events for Oct. 16.

How did the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School unfold?

Authorities say the first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. and reported that someone had shot into a car near the school. At 1 p.m., dispatchers alerted officers to respond to a critical incident, Krantz said. Police arrived by 1:02 p.m. and dozens of emergency calls followed.

Krantz said the shooter had a "long gun" and shot his way into the school through locked doors. A bystander who saw the suspect enter the school followed the attacker inside and engaged him in gunfire, Krantz said. The shooter was dead when police arrived.

Authorities have not publicly identified the bystander, who many have called a hero.

The police chief did not describe the shooter's firearm or how the suspect obtained it. Oregon has passed a series of laws restricting firearms in recent years and ranks 12th in the country for gun laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a prominent gun violence prevention group.

'They were so afraid': Teacher recalls moments after gunfire erupted

Kathy Sheil Smith, a fifth grade teacher at Silver Rail Elementary, said she saw the gunman from her classroom window and notified the school's office. She moved her students into a corner of the classroom and tried to keep them calm.

“They were so afraid. The looks on their faces was really hard to see,” she told Fox 12 KPTV, an affiliate of CNN. “Some kids were praying, some kids were consoling other kids.”

Smith praised the bystander who pursued the gunman and stopped the attack.

“That person saw something,” she told the outlet. “They did something, and that took its own courage. I’m just grateful that that person was able to apprehend the suspect.”

'Stunned and heartbroken'

Bend has a population of roughly 107,000 and sits along the Deschutes River in central Oregon, about 165 miles southeast of Portland.

Silver Rail Elementary School served about 500 students from kindergarten through fifth grade last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education.

In a statement to multiple news outlets after the shooting, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said the district is "stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy."

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the families and to everyone affected by this violence," he added. "No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing."

'Every parent's worst nightmare'

Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of gun safety group Moms Demand Action, called the shooting "every parent's worst nightmare" in a statement provided to USA TODAY.

"No parent should have to wonder whether the school drop-off will be the last time they see their child," Zabala said.

Oregon’s deadliest school shooting occurred Oct. 1, 2015, at Umpqua Community College near Roseburg, where a gunman opened fire in a classroom, killing a professor and eight students and wounding nine others. The death toll surpassed that of the May 21, 1998, shooting at Thurston High School in Springfield, where a suspended student opened fire in a hallway and crowded cafeteria, killing two students and wounding 25 others.

Krantz said every Bend police officer went through a full day of active shooter training in August.

"Unfortunately, this is something we train for on a regular basis, and we must," Krantz said. "This is going to be a long investigation."

Gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, a former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in Tucson in 2011, said in a statement she was "heartbroken" by the shooting in Bend.

"This cannot continue to be a reality in our country. Leaders at every level must step up and act," Giffords said.