Three young children and a teacher were killed Thursday afternoon in a horrific shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon. The teenage suspect was fatally shot by an armed bystander.
The shooter forced entry into Silver Rail Elementary School by firing through the locked doors around 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET), Bend police said.
Police arrived within three minutes and learned the suspect had been shot and killed.
Many questions remain about the motive.
Here’s what we know.
Timeline
Police arrived within three minutes of the first call for help.
At 12:58 p.m. PT, the shooter approached a fence area of the school, threw his weapon over it then clambered over the fence onto the school property, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said in a news conference Friday afternoon.
The driver of a red Toyota pickup saw the gunman and “verbally confronted him,” Krantz said. The shooter fired at the truck, hitting it at least three times, police said. The driver was uninjured.
That driver made the initial 911 call at 12:59 p.m. The caller told Deschutes County dispatch they were being “shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun,” Krantz said Thursday.
In the ensuing minutes, dispatch received “dozens” of 911 calls reporting that a shooter had entered the K-5 school, he said Thursday.
A tone alert was issued at 1 p.m. telling all law enforcement officers to report to a critical incident.
One minute later, the school was directed to go into lockdown.
At 1:02 p.m., the first Bend police officers arrived and moments later learned that a 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 said.
That man has been identified as Kaylub Giamanco, 36, his brother, Kyle Giamanco, confirmed to NBC News. He is a carpenter and a father of two girls who attend Silver Rail Elementary.
According to his brother, Kaylub Giamanco saw the gunman enter the school while he was out on his lunch break. He has a concealed-weapon permit and decided to follow the person inside, his brother said.
The community member had witnessed the shooter firing at the pickup, authorities said. He drove into the school parking lot as the suspect was walking along the south side of the building and broke in, Krantz said Friday. He parked his car and followed the shooter, taking with him a .40-caliber pistol that he had “legally secured in his vehicle,” the police chief said.
The man heard the shooting and saw a teacher involved in a physical altercation with the gunman. He entered the classroom and fired his weapon, “striking the suspect multiple times,” Krantz said.
A hero teacher also sought to stop the shooter by tackling him, the police chief said Friday. She threw her cellphone at the gunman and fought to take his firearm.
“She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed,” Krantz said.
The shooting unfolded in the special education classroom, where there were students of different ages, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said.
It was in that classroom the gunman was found dead.
The shooting had unfolded by the time Giamanco “engaged” the shooter, Krantz said.
Officers entered the school, confirmed the suspect was dead and began to evacuate it, busing people to a reunification center at a nearby church and providing aid to the victims.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the courage of the school’s staff members, parents and first responders and the unidentified community member who “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.”
Silver Elementary has more than 400 students and over 40 staff members.
The victims
Three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and an adult teacher were killed. Their identities were not publicly disclosed, but their families were notified, Krantz said.
The 5-year-old victim was identified as Rhoam Summer, a family spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.
Rhoam’s mother, Kelik Summer, also posted to a Facebook group that Thursday was “the worst day of my life. My son Rhoam was killed in a school shooting. We are broken and lost, but are surrounded by friends and family who are keeping us safe.”
The teacher was identified as Megan Lambert of Bend.
“She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job,” her family said in a statement read at a Friday news conference. “Megan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.”
The identities of the other two children were not publicly released at the request of their families.
A 7-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to St. Charles Medical Center — Bend with critical injuries, he said.
The injured teacher was identified Friday by her husband as Rebecca Drury. She worked at Silver Rail as an educational assistant, according to the school’s website.
“The kindness and concern shown to our family and everyone affected mean more than we can express,” he said in a statement to NBC News. “Right now, our focus is on my wife, Becky, and her recovery, and on supporting our family through an unimaginably difficult time.”
Police said Drury had serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Kyle Giamanco, the brother of the man who stopped the shooter, also told NBC News he is friends with the family of the 7-year-old child who is in the hospital. The child, who is in a wheelchair and was shot in the face, is recovering from surgery, he said.
On Friday police said the 7-year-old is in serious but stable condition.
What we know about the suspect
The suspect has been identified as Griffin J. John II, a 16-year-old Bend resident, police said Friday.
He previously attended Silver Rail Elementary and was a special needs student, Cook, the district superintendent, said.
His mother purchased the pump-action shotgun he is believed to have used around the time of Griffin’s birthday in August, multiple officials told NBC News.
Two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said his mother has been cooperative with law enforcement so far in the investigation.
The gunman gained entry into the school by firing multiple rounds into the glass panes of the school doors, and entered the special needs classroom immediately to the left of the doors. There he fired “as many as 15 rounds overall,” Krantz said Friday.
All of the victims were shot in that classroom, he said. The exact number of shots fired is under investigation.
An investigation into how he possessed that firearm is underway.
In Oregon, a person must be 18 to purchase rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns. It is illegal to sell firearms to minors.
However, people under 18 can legally possess firearms if they have parental consent, in which case they may use non-handgun firearms. Minors can also temporarily possess firearms for lawful reasons, such as hunting or target practice.
The investigation
Krantz said there will be a large law enforcement presence at the school for several days.
“This is going to be a long investigation,” he said.
The governor said that the Oregon Department of Emergency Management is coordinating across multiple state agencies and that “the state stands ready to support” the community. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI were also assisting.
All schools in the Bend-La Pine Schools district, as well as activities and athletic events, were canceled Friday.
Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said Thursday that it was an “awful day for our community.”
“A school should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure,” she said.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misnamed the gunman in the Bend, Oregon, school shooting. He is Griffin J. John II, not John Griffin II.
