Police responded to an active shooter at Silver Rail Elementary in southeast Bend, according to an alert police sent out Thursday afternoon.
Five people are dead, including three children, a teacher and the 16-year-old male shooter, according to Mike Krantz, Bend Police chief, who spoke at a 5:30 pm press conference Thursday at Bend City Hall. The three children killed were ages 5, 8 and 11.
Crisis counselors will be available to the public Deschutes Central Library on Friday, beginning at 9 am.
The alert about the shooting came at 1:17 p.m. came with limited details but described a “large police presence” at the school, encouraging the public to avoid the area.
Ten minutes later, police announced a reunification location for families was set up at Journey Church, 61303 S Highway 97 near Goodwill and Dairy Queen. “Students’ families are asked to respond there,” the alert said.
Bend PD, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police and Bend Fire & Rescue swarmed the school campus. Both Bend PD and DCSO set up incident command centers.
Two other people were transported to St. Charles Medical Center in unknown condition. Children are among the victims, Miller said.
Not all details are known at this time, Chief Krantz said at the press conference, but what’s apparent is that a man driving a red Tacoma pickup in the school parking lot spotting an individual carrying a long gun approach the building. The driver confronted the gunman, who in turn fired numerous times at the civilian and his truck, shattering a rear window and leaving at least six large bullet holes. The assailant then allegedly threw his gun over the school fence and jumped over. The civilian made a 911 call to Deschutes County Dispatch at 12:59 pm.
In the ensuing minutes, dispatch received dozens of calls reporting that a shooter had entered the school building, Krantz said. Dispatch issued a tone to alert all law enforcement at 1 pm.
At 1:01 pm, the first Bend PD officers arrived at the scene. Moments later, Krantz said, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school, pursued and engaged with him.
Bend PD officers entered the building and confirmed that the suspect was dead. They cleared the school to ensure there were no additional threats, Krantz said, then rendered emergency aid to the victims.
Bend Fire & Rescue transported a 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher to St. Charles Medical Center with critical injuries.
Authorities have notified all the families of the victims.
Witnesses told the Source the gunman then entered the special education area of the school, where at least three additional shots were heard.
Source reporters on the ground spoke with Justin Penfield, whose child attends Silver Rail. Penfield shared photos of a truck allegedly shot at by the shooter before entering the school.
“This is going to be a long investigation,” Chief Krantz said. “We will have a large police presence at Silver Rail Elementary School for the next several days as our officers continue to conduct a very thorough investigation so we get all the answers.”
Parents received alerts that nearby schools including Caldera High School and Jewell Elementary went into lockdown Thursday afternoon, but those alerts were lifted as of 2 pm on Thursday.
As of 3 pm, law enforcement was in the process of evacuating each classroom at Silver Rail Elementary. Students were being transported by Bend-La Pine Schools buses to Journey Church, 61303 S Highway 97, for reunification.
In the aftermath, police officers carrying bullet-proof vests and assault rifles peered into vehicles parked in the school lot. Parents, teachers and children huddled together, embracing and wiping tears from faces.
Brothers Gavin and Zade Straw attend Caldera High School. After their school lifted lockdown they went to Journey Church, where parents and their children were being reunited, to lend a hand any way they could. They don’t have siblings at Silver Rail, but they still were still feeling the effects of the shooting.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Gavin Straw. “I was like, there’s no way this is happening.”
“It’s certainly horrifying,” said Sue Theons. Her grandson is a special education student at Silver Rail who was unharmed in the shooting. “This shouldn’t happen here. It shouldn’t happen anywhere, but it shouldn’t happen here.”
Martha Close has a 10-year old granddaughter at Silver Rail. After a wait, she was reunited with her granddaughter late Thursday afternoon. “In the moment, things seem to take forever,” Close said. “I just prayed.”
Steven and Angela Nuchols got their 8-year-old daughter, Charlotte, dressed up for picture day at Silver Rail Thursday morning. Just a few hours later, they raced to the school after hearing about the shooting.
“It was crawling with police officers from all over the county,” said Angela Nuchols. “You’ve got guys in tactical gear, rifles. You’re just scared to death wondering, is your child OK? You don’t know.”
The Nuchols were reunited with their daughter a few hours later at Journey Church. “It’s like the worst three hours of our lives,” Angela said.
Bend-La Pine Schools announced all schools will be closed on Friday.
—This is a breaking story and will be updated.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
And he was STOPPED by ‘A good guy with a gun’.
Thank God for brave ARMED Citizen.
Why our babies! Hell is a forever place the shooter has now entered! Im in tears for everyone involved! Our local school here in Virginia where our 8 yr old grandson goes has a policeman on duty at all times and the school is locked. My old neighbor works a bit north where you have to go thru an x-ray to enter. Its awful but all schools, public and private should be this way. Its sad but true what schools have come to!
Yes. All schools should be hardened. Why it’s not federal law at this point idk. I know peoples knee jerk reaction is to take away the guns, but realistically that’s never going to happen with over 100 firearms per person in the country. I won’t ever give mine up specifically because of events like this. I’m an RF tech and Im in A lot, A LOT of schools. I will 100% put myself in harms way, with or without a gun. There is a special place in hell for ppl that target kids.
Uvaldue school had a police man on duty look what happened. This school was locked the shooter shot the locks out. Metal detectors are for rule followers. Not active shooters.
There must come a time where we unite for better gun control. This shouldn’t be a political vote bait issue. It’s a common sense issue.
Praying for All
It.d Just So Sad
This IS AMERICA for GODS SAKE
My deepest condolences to the entire families that have tragically lost their love ones. May the the grace of GOD through the blood of Jesus Christ embrace them in his loving arms in heaven.🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🕊️