Armed Bystander Kills Teen Gunman After 4 Die at Oregon School

An armed bystander who saw a 16-year-old with a long gun force his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon followed the teenager into the building and shot him dead, Bend police said.

Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed in the attack. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were critically injured and taken to St. Charles Bend.

The suspect was a 16-year-old Bend resident, police said. His name has not been released. Officers found him already dead inside the school when they got there.

Three minutes from the first 911 call

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz laid out the sequence at an evening news conference. The first call reached Deschutes County Dispatch at 12:59 p.m., from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun.

Dozens more calls came in over the next minute, telling dispatchers the gunman had gone inside the school. Officers heading to the scene ordered the school into lockdown at 1:01 p.m.

"At 1:02 pm our first officers arrived on scene," Krantz said. "Moments later, an officer reported the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him."

That is roughly three minutes from the first report of gunfire to a dead shooter. Officers and sheriff's deputies then moved room to room clearing the building and evacuating students and staff.

Nobody has named the man who fired

Police have not identified the civilian, describing him only as a community member who saw the suspect go in and went in after him. Authorities credited him with stopping the attack before more people were hurt.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek addressed him directly from the podium at Bend City Hall without using a name.

"And to the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life: Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well," she said.

Kotek also thanked Silver Rail staff, parents and first responders, and said the grief ahead would be both public and private. "No parent should have to have this kind of day, and no community should have to live through this kind of day," she said, adding that as the community learns more about the children and adults killed and injured, "we are going to do a lot of crying, and we are going to cry together, and we're probably going to cry privately."

Krantz described the community member's actions at the same briefing. The case remains under investigation.

He shot through the locked doors

The school's doors were locked. Officials said the gunman got inside by firing through them around 1 p.m. Pacific time.

Two of the biggest questions are unanswered: why he did it, and how a 16-year-old got the long gun he used. NBC News reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation and the crime scene, that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives placed an urgent trace on the firearm within hours and already had the results back.

A school of 459 kids, kindergarten through fifth grade

Silver Rail Elementary had 459 students last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade, which is roughly ages 5 to 11. The three children killed were 5, 8 and 11.

Parents spent the afternoon at a unification center waiting for their kids, who were released grade by grade starting with the youngest. The aunt of a fifth grader at the school said on NBC News Now that her nephew reached his mother by phone and was "clearly very, very scared and wanted to go home." She said the wait was slow because staff were working through all the grades.

Bend-La Pine Schools said crisis counselors would be available at the Central Library in Bend for students, families, employees and community members.

"We are heartbroken. We are horrified"

Superintendent Steven Cook spoke at the Thursday evening news conference. "We are heartbroken. We are horrified," he said.

"To the families that have had loss tonight, we are with you, and we will stay with you," he continued. "To our staff who helped our students and protected our kids today, we thank you. You did what no one should ever be asked to do."

In a written statement, the district said its immediate priorities were caring for students and staff and assisting law enforcement and emergency responders.

Hundreds gathered at Drake Park

A candlelight vigil began around 7 p.m. at Drake Park, a few minutes from downtown Bend. People started arriving well before it was scheduled to start.

Mayor Melanie Kebler, whose daughter attends a different elementary school in the city, spoke there. "There are simply no words for the loss that we have suffered today," she said. "I am proud of our community for coming together to support one another, because that is what we are going to need right now."

Earlier, at the news conference, Kebler said a school should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure, and called the day an awful one for the city.

Claire Elmer, a reporter for NBC affiliate KTVZ who grew up in Bend, covered the vigil live from the park. "This has been a very emotionally heavy day for our community," she said on air, before pausing and adding: "As someone who's grown up here, you certainly never expect it to happen in your community. I know most communities say that."

Bend is the county seat of Deschutes County in central Oregon, a city of more than 100,000 people sitting about 125 miles southeast of Portland.

Oregon politicians split almost immediately

Statements poured out of state and federal offices within hours, and they did not all say the same thing.

Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat who represents Oregon's 5th Congressional District, was blunt. "They're killing our babies. Shredding our kids with lead. Forcing us to live in fear," she wrote. "Our babies are supposed to do arts and crafts at school, not use their desks as cover from gunfire. They're supposed to make friends, not mourn them." She closed with four words: "When will it end?" Bynum, who is running for re-election, paused her campaign activity Thursday.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, called for legislation. "The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools," he wrote.

State Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson, a Republican from Prineville, framed it differently. "May the weight of God sit heavy with any soul who justifies this evil deed," she said, thanking first responders.

State Sen. Mike McLane, a Republican from Powell Butte, said Central Oregon was devastated and grieving. State Sen. Anthony Broadman, a Democrat from Bend, said that knowing children and an educator had their lives cut short in a place that should be safe troubles the soul of every good human being.

Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, who is also running in the 5th District race, suspended all campaign events.

A sheriff from Roseburg headed to Bend

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office posted a message to Bend on social media Thursday night. "Our hearts are with the Bend community this evening," it said.

"As an agency and community that have experienced a similar tragedy, we stand in solidarity with the victims and their families, community members, first responders, and all those impacted by today's incident at Silver Rail Elementary," the office said.

Douglas County is where a 26-year-old man killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg in 2015. He killed himself after being wounded by police. Sheriff John Hanlin, who was in office then, was driving to Bend to offer whatever help local law enforcement needed.

What is still open

The investigation is ongoing. Police have not released the shooter's name, have not given a motive, and have not explained how he obtained the long gun.

They also have not named the man who went in after him, and neither did the governor. What officials have said is narrow and specific: he saw the suspect enter Silver Rail Elementary, he pursued him inside, he engaged him, and within moments of the first officers arriving at 1:02 p.m., it was over.