Teen gunman kills four at US elementary school
A teenage gunman killed three students and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, police said. The shooter was himself shot dead by a bystander.
The suspect was identified as a 16-year-old Bend resident, the city’s police chief, Mike Krantz, said at a news conference. He did not reveal the suspect’s name or say whether he knew anyone at the school.
The three children killed were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were hospitalized in critical condition.
Krantz said the gunman was shot by a “community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him.”
The school has been placed on lockdown, and the Bend Police Department has urged the public to avoid the area.
According to The Source Weekly, parents received alerts that nearby schools, including Caldera High School and Jewell Elementary School, had also been placed on lockdown following a police alert at around 1:20 p.m. Thursday. The lockdowns were lifted about 40 minutes later.
Video from the scene shows multiple police cars and ambulances near the school.
Paramedics seen staging at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon amid reported active shooter situation. https://t.co/9KnGY4LIEv
— Noteworthy News (@newsnoteworthy) October 15, 2026
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau’s local office was working with investigators. “We will make every resource they need available,” he wrote on X.
“Today is an awful day for our community,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said. “A school should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure,” she added, expressing condolences to the victims’ families.
The shooting comes amid continuing concerns over gun violence at US schools. In August 2025, a gunman opened fire on children attending Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing two students, aged eight and ten, and injuring 17 other people before taking his own life.
