A teacher tackled a teenage shooter inside Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, and an armed father then shot him dead, ending an attack on Thursday that killed three children and a teacher. Police said the gunman had already fired his way into the building and was carrying about 44 more rounds of shotgun ammunition when the violence stopped.
On Friday, police identified two of the four victims as five-year-old Rhoam Summer and 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert, while the families of the other two children did not want them named yet. Two others were injured, including a 54-year-old teacher who was still being treated at hospital and a seven-year-old student in serious but stable condition.
The teacher who confronted the suspect first threw her mobile phone before trying to disarm the 16-year-old on the floor of the classroom. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said her actions, along with the father who ran in with a pistol after driving past as the attack unfolded, saved lives. Krantz said the teacher was not hurt and almost certainly prevented more bloodshed, while the father had two daughters at the school.
That detail matters because the attack did not happen in a vacuum. Police said Griffin J John II used to be a student at Silver Rail Elementary and had been a special educational needs student there, but they have not said what prompted him to attack the school. Investigators said he fired as many as 15 rounds in the classroom before the confrontation ended the assault.
For Rhoam Summer’s family, the loss carried the shock of a child described by Bryan Jolly as “very bright and very mischievous and very fun-loving, and totally without fear.” Jolly called the killing “senseless,” and police have already made clear that the question left hanging is not whether people acted with courage. It is why a former student came back armed and opened fire in the first place.
