Teen gunman kills three children and a teacher at Bend, Oregon, elementary school

A 16-year-old former student killed three children and a teacher inside a special-needs classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon before a parent with a handgun shot and killed him, police said Friday.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said the attacker fired as many as 15 rounds from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and still carried about 44 rounds when he died, according to the Associated Press report published by WSB-TV. ABC News, via its affiliates, reported that the weapon was a Maverick 88 shotgun.

The children killed were boys ages 5, 8 and 11, ABC13 Houston reported. The teacher killed was Megan Lambert, 25, of Bend. A 7-year-old girl and a 54-year-old teacher, Becky Drury, were wounded. The AP said police described both as critical on Thursday, while ABC reported that by Friday afternoon the girl was serious but stable and Drury's injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Krantz said the teen threw the shotgun over a fence around 1 p.m., climbed after it, and fired at least three times at a truck whose occupant had spoken to him, ABC reported. He then shot through glass panes in locked doors and went into a classroom just inside the entrance, according to Alaska's News Source.

A teacher, who police did not name and said was unhurt, threw her phone at the attacker, tackled him and tried to take the gun, the chief said. Krantz called her actions heroic, the AP reported.

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a father of two girls at the school, followed the attacker inside and shot him several times, police said. Accounts of how he came upon the scene differ slightly: Alaska's News Source reported he had parked at the school and saw the vehicle being shot, while ABC reported he saw the attacker enter while driving past. His family said he has a concealed carry permit. His mother, Kenda Freeman, said he is not seeking recognition.

Police said the attacker had been a special-needs student at Silver Rail but was no longer enrolled in the district. No motive has been identified. "Everyone wants to know why, including us," Krantz said, according to the AP.

Police said they are still determining how the teen got the shotgun. ABC News and the AP, citing unnamed sources, reported it was believed to have been bought by his mother. The AP noted that Oregon law lets a minor possess a shotgun provided by a parent or with a parent's consent.

President Donald Trump praised the man who stopped the attack, and Gov. Tina Kotek offered him her thoughts, the AP reported. Bend schools canceled classes Friday.

In a family statement read by police spokesperson Sheila Miller, Lambert's relatives said, "She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job," Alaska's News Source reported.

The investigation remains open, police said.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Alaska's News Source, WSB-TV, ABC13 Houston and ABC7 New York. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/170