A 16-year-old student opened fire Thursday morning at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, killing three children and a teacher and critically wounding a 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher. Police say the teen used a pump-action shotgun reportedly purchased by his mother. A fifth-grade teacher spotted him from her classroom window and alerted the front office before hiding her students.
Kaylub Giamanco, a Bend father whose two daughters attend the school, saw the shooter enter and followed him inside, shooting and killing him before officers arrived at 1:02 p.m. President Trump praised Giamanco from the White House on Friday, saying the toll would have been “much worse” without him. All classes and activities are canceled, and flags are flying at half-staff.
For those of us on the Suncoast, where school drop-off lines and hurricane-season drills are part of the rhythm of the year, the story raises familiar questions about how prepared our own schools really are. We have compiled resources on school safety contacts for Sarasota, Manatee, and surrounding districts. Would you know what to do if something happened at your child’s school? Tell us in the comments.
