Bend school shooting: armed father says he regrets not reaching gunman sooner

Three children and a teacher were killed when a 16-year-old former pupil opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday. The children were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to St Charles hospital in Bend in a critical condition. Five people died in total, including the suspect. The suspect, named in later reports as Griffin J. John II, was shot dead by an armed member of the public before officers entered the building.

Police gave a minute-by-minute account. At 12.59pm local time, Deschutes County dispatch received a 911 call from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone with a long gun. In the next few minutes, dispatch received dozens of calls saying a shooter had entered Silver Rail Elementary on southeast Stone Creek Lane. Law enforcement was alerted at 1pm, the school was told to lock down at 1.01pm, and the first officers arrived at 1.02pm, three minutes after the first call. Moments later, an officer reported that a community member had shot the suspect after seeing him enter the school and pursuing him inside. Officers entered and confirmed the suspect was dead.

Police said the gunman shot through locked doors to get into the school. Once inside, he killed three students and a teacher in a special needs classroom. A red vehicle outside was left with bullet holes. The suspect was a Bend resident and had previously attended Silver Rail Elementary. Police believe he travelled to the school on foot, although that route remained under investigation. His motive was not immediately released. The FBI was assisting the investigation, and police said they would remain at the school for several days. Every Bend police officer had completed a full day of active threat training.

The armed civilian was named in reports as Caleb Gemanko, a father of two pupils at the school. His family said he was on his lunch break when he heard gunfire at his daughter's school. He confronted the teenage gunman and shot him dead before officers entered the building. The family said he was not seeking recognition, only privacy and a chance to thank the community. In a later account, he said he heard children pleading for their lives and gunfire, crawled towards the confrontation, saw a teacher struggling with the gunman, stepped in and fired. He said he called his mother afterwards and told her he had to take the life of 'what I think might be a Child' because the gunman had entered his daughter's school with a gun. He said he was 'the last line of defence' for the children and regretted not arriving sooner.

Students and staff were taken by bus to a nearby church for reunification with families. Schools across Bend were closed on Friday. Hundreds and then thousands of people gathered at a local park for a vigil, lighting candles, praying, singing and sitting in silence. Residents near the school described a tight-knit community and said they heard loud bangs but first thought they were construction. Officials said the community needed time to heal. Support groups were planned. The shooting revived painful memories of a mass shooting at a grocery store in Bend four years earlier.

It also added to a wider pattern of school shootings in the United States. One report said there had been 235 school shootings last year and 149 so far this year, including the Bend attack. Another report said there had been 140 shooting incidents at American schools so far this year. The figures differed, but the broader point was the same: another community was in shock after another school shooting.