A 16-year-old gunman forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, shooting at locked doors to get inside. He killed a 5-year-old, an 8-year-old, an 11-year-old, and one teacher. Another child and a teacher were wounded and remain in critical condition. Before entering the school, the shooter had fired at a person in a vehicle.
Teacher Kathy Smith saw the shooter from her classroom window. She called the main office to warn them, then hid her students in a corner and worked to keep them calm. She later told reporters she believed she was going to die saving her kids, and that every teacher in the building was thinking the same thing. A bystander followed the gunman into the school and killed him. Smith said that person saved countless lives, including her own, and praised the courage it took to act instead of run.
Bend police have not released a motive. Here on the Suncoast, this story lands hard for anyone who has dropped a child at a school gate or taught in a classroom. If you have questions about how our own schools handle lockdowns and visitor protocols, that conversation is worth having this week.
What do you think schools and communities should be doing differently? Let us know in the comments.
