Gunman Killed Inside Bend, Oregon Elementary School; Children Among Victims, Police Say

A gunman was shot dead inside Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 15, after a shooting that left multiple victims, including children, according to the Bend Police Department.

Police have confirmed there was one shooter. No further information on the suspect has been released.

The timeline

Bend Police communications manager Sheila Miller laid out the sequence at a news briefing. Dispatchers got the first call at about 12:59 p.m. local time, reporting a shot fired into a car outside the school.

An alert went to officers at 1 p.m. Within about a minute, 911 calls were coming in from inside the building reporting an active shooter.

Officers arrived at approximately 1:02 p.m. Seconds later, word came over the radio that the suspect was down.

That is roughly three minutes from first call to a dead shooter.

Who killed the shooter

That question is still open. "We don't have confirmation yet who shot the suspect. It may have been a bystander," Miller told reporters.

Police have not said whether the person who stopped the gunman was an officer or a civilian with a firearm. They have also not said where in the building the shooting took place or how the suspect got inside.

Miller said the shooter was first reported outside the building, firing into a car, before the calls from within the school began.

The victims

Bend Fire medics took at least two people to St. Charles Medical Center. Miller said the victims include children. Police have not said how many children were hit, whether those taken to the hospital were children, or what condition anyone is in.

The total number of victims has not been released. Police described them only as "multiple."

No deaths other than the suspect's have been confirmed by police.

The school and the response

Silver Rail is a public K-5 school at 61530 SE Stone Creek Lane. Police put enrollment at roughly 400 to 450 students, with more than 40 staff. Police have not said how many people were on campus at the time.

Hundreds of law enforcement personnel from agencies across Central Oregon responded. Officers were still going room by room to evacuate the building during a media briefing around 2:00 p.m.

Families were told to go to Journey Church, 61303 S. Highway 97, for reunification. Police asked the public to stay away from the school.

Bend has nearly 100,000 residents and sits about three hours from Portland.

Miller choked up at the briefing. "This is the kind of thing we never want to see happen in Bend. It's devastating," she said.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., wrote on X that he and his team were closely monitoring the situation. "My heart is with the Bend community and all of the students and families affected. No one should have to fear violence at school," he said.

What comes next

The immediate questions are the ones police have not answered. Investigators have to establish who the shooter was, what drove him to the school, and who fired the shots that ended the attack.

The armed-bystander question matters for the record, because it will determine whether the attack was stopped by responding officers or by a civilian who got there first. Police said they expect to release more information as the investigation continues.