Four killed in shooting at Oregon elementary school

A 16-year-old gunman killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, authorities said. The children were aged five, eight and 11. A seven-year-old pupil and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in critical condition.

Police said the attacker fired through locked doors to enter the school after a person outside reported being shot at shortly before 1 p.m. Officers arrived within minutes. A community member who saw the gunman enter followed him inside and fatally shot him, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz. Investigators had not established a motive or said whether the teenager had a connection to the school.

Silver Rail serves about 450 pupils from kindergarten through fifth grade. Classes and activities were cancelled across the Bend-La Pine district on Friday while families and staff received support. Police described the inquiry as long-running and said the sequence of events would be examined in detail.

The confirmed account comes from police briefings reported independently by Reuters and the Associated Press. Questions about the weapon and how it was obtained remain part of the investigation and should not be treated as settled beyond the information authorities have released.