Teen gunman kills three children and a teacher at Bend elementary school before a bystander stops him

A 16-year-old shot his way through the locked doors of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon and killed three children and a teacher, police said. A resident who saw him walk in followed him inside and shot him dead before officers could get to him.

Three minutes of terror

The first call reached Deschutes County dispatchers at 12:59 p.m. Pacific time. A driver reported that someone with a long gun had fired at the car several times. Within minutes dozens of 911 callers said a gunman was inside the K-5 school, which has more than 400 students and over 40 staff members.

The school was told to lock down at 1:01 p.m. The first Bend officers pulled up a minute later and learned that an armed community member had already confronted the teen inside the building. Police have not said how far into the school he got or how many rounds were fired.

The victims

The children who died were 5, 8 and 11 years old. A teacher was also killed. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were rushed to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend in critical condition. Police said every family has been told but no names have been released.

Investigators describe the shooter only as a 16-year-old who lived in Bend. They have not said whether he had any tie to the school or how he got the gun. Federal firearms agents completed an urgent trace on the weapon Thursday night and the FBI is helping with the case. Police Chief Mike Krantz warned that the investigation will take a long time.

Grief and gratitude

Gov. Tina Kotek thanked teachers, parents, first responders and the resident who stepped in, saying he acted heroically to prevent more deaths and now carries a heavy emotional weight. She ordered flags lowered to half-staff at state buildings on Friday. Mayor Melanie Kebler said a school should be a place where children feel safe and promised the city will stand with families.

Hundreds of people gathered in Drake Park on Thursday evening for a prayer vigil. Bend-La Pine Schools canceled classes, activities and games across the district Friday and opened crisis counseling at the downtown library starting at 9 a.m. Police plan to share more details at a briefing Friday afternoon.

It is the first school shooting in Oregon in more than a decade and the second deadliest in state history. Only the 2015 attack at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, which left nine people dead, took more lives.