Bystander Stops Oregon Elementary School Shooting in Under Three Minutes

A 16-year-old gunman’s rampage at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, was cut short in under three minutes when a bystander fatally shot him, police said. The shooter killed three children and a teacher before the bystander intervened.

The incident began around 12:59 p.m. when police received a call from a driver reporting that the gunman had fired his mother's pump-action shotgun at his truck outside the school. The gunman then proceeded toward the school, firing shots at the locks, according to authorities.

By 1 p.m., dispatchers were inundated with calls reporting a shooter inside the school. Law enforcement arrived at 1:02 p.m. to find the suspect deceased. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz stated that the massacre concluded when a community member, who witnessed the gunman enter the school, pursued him inside and engaged him.

The victims included three children, aged 5, 8, and 11, and a teacher. Another 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were hospitalized in critical condition. The shooter, a resident of Bend, had an unclear connection to the school.