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A 16-year-old has shot dead three children and a teacher at a primary school in the US state of Oregon before he was killed by a bystander, police said.
The suspect, who has not been named, forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in the city of Bend on Thursday afternoon by shooting at locked doors, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz confirmed.
The teenager was shot dead by a community member who “pursued him into the school and engaged him”, Krantz said. Police arrived three minutes later.
The three children killed were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to a hospital in a critical condition. It is unclear if the attacker had any links to the school.
Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil in Bend on Thursday evening, with the local community coming together to share songs and prayers.
Messages including “never again” and “be at peace” were written in chalk on the ground besides flowers and candles.
“We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy,” Steven Cook, the top administrative official of the local school district, said in an emotional statement to reporters.
“No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing.”
Police said the attacker was a local 16-year-old boy, but they did not release any further details on him or the identity of the victims.
They were alerted to an active shooter at Silver Rail Elementary at 12:59 local time (19:59 GMT), Bend Police Department spokeswoman Sheila Miller told reporters.
The first call came from a person who said that an unknown suspect was shooting into their car with a long gun, police said. Photos released from the scene show a red truck with bullet holes.
Minutes later, the local county dispatch received 911 calls reporting that the attacker had entered the school.
Police said he shot at locks on the doors in order to force his way inside.
Local media reports suggested the school received new classroom doors in 2022 which can be locked with the flip of a switch.
A bystander saw the shooting begin to unfold, pursued the attacker into the school and shot him dead, police explained.
Three minutes later, officers first arrived at the scene. They confirmed that the attacker had been killed, and then searched the school.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised the bystander who “heroically intervened” to stop further loss of life.
“Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” she told a media briefing alongside other officials.
Police did not reveal any details about the “community member” who shot the teenager, but audio recordings of Emergency Medical Services dispatch suggest he was the parent of a pupil.
“Looks like the shooter has been neutralised, possibly shot by a father at the school. Not sure about patients at this time, the police are arriving,” a staff member is heard saying.
A local newspaper reporter told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the school was in lockdown during the shooting and that students were able to communicate with parents outside with their Apple watches.
Michael Kohn, a reporter with Bulletin newspaper, said the incident had left the parents stunned.
“This is a neighbourhood school. Parents are stunned. It’s just something you don’t expect to happen in Bend, Oregon. It’s a mountain town,” he said.
Teacher Kathy Sheil Smith described to CNN affiliate KPTV how she tried to keep the children calm after spotting the gunman approach the school.
“The looks on their faces was really hard to see,” she said.
“Some kids were praying, some kids were consoling other kids. I’m sure that every teacher at the school thought ‘Today is the day that I am going to die,'” she added.
Schools in Bend will be closed on Friday. Officials said the community needed time to heal.
Around 450 children attend Silver Rail Elementary School, which has more than 40 adult staff members, police said.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 235 shooting incidents at American schools last year and at least 140 so far this year.
A person under the age of 18 cannot buy a firearm in Oregon. The state does allow juveniles to possess one with the permission of their parents but only for certain uses like hunting.
Officials would not say exactly what type of weapon was used in the attack or how many rounds were fired. Multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News the suspect used a shotgun.
Oregon has passed a broad range of gun safety laws in recent years, placing it 12th out of 50 states in terms of their strictness, by gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
