What is known about the shooting in which a 16-year-old teen killed 3 children and a teacher at a elementary school in Oregon

What is known about the shooting in which a 16-year-old killed 3 children and a teacher in a primary school in Oregon - Author, Newsroom - Author's Title, BBC News Mundo - Publication Date - Reading Time: 6 min Three children and a teacher were killed on Thursday in a shooting carried out by a teenager in a primary school in Oregon, in the western United States. The shooting occurred at Silver Rail school in the town of Bend around 1:00 PM local time. The suspect, who was shot by the parents of two schoolgirls, was identified as John Griffin, 16 years old and a resident of the same town, according to CBS News, the BBC's partner news network in the United States. The police chief of Bend, Mike Krantz, said that "among the dead were children aged 5, 8, and 11 and a teacher". Two other people, a 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher, were transported to a local hospital in critical condition. The man who pursued and shot the aggressor was identified by CBS News sources as Kaylub Giamanco. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said that Giamanco carried out a "heroic intervention" that prevented more victims: "Your actions carry a great emotional burden and I just want you to know that my thoughts are also with you," she stated. President Donald Trump said that the situation could have been "much worse" if there had been no intervention by the passerby: "No matter how serious it was, we had a great hero who intervened and did what had to be done". "It is terrible, but at least there was a man who had a gun and knew how to use it," he told reporters at the White House. The primary school Silver Rail has about 450 students and around 40 teachers and academic staff, according to the police. According to the newspaper The Oregonian, in 2022 the school installed new doors that allow classrooms to be closed with the action of a single switch. What is known about the attack? According to Police Chief Krantz, at 12:59 PM local time, the police received a call from a "person in a vehicle who reported having received several shots fired by someone armed with a long gun". Subsequently, the emergency center received dozens of calls from inside the school. One minute later, the school entered a lockdown. The officers arrived three minutes later. The suspect burst into the school shooting at closed doors with safety mechanisms, Krantz assured. It is still unclear if the attacker had any connection with the school. The weapon used was purchased by his mother, according to CBS News sources. Investigators are thoroughly reviewing their social media accounts, their phone, and their internet search history to obtain more information. "Actually, there are no words I can say to improve this situation," said the police chief of Bend. "We know that this is a time that deeply affects the community. I ask everyone to support each other and be there for one another," he added. The FBI director, Kash Patel, reported that members of the agency were at the scene and cooperating with local law enforcement. Irvin Ornelas assured that he saw the suspect heading towards the school before the shooting occurred: "I saw him pointing his gun and jumping the fence very quickly," he told CBS News. His brother, 10 years old, is a student at the primary school and is safe, but says he was thinking about him "all the time". Kathy Sheil Smith, a fifth-grade teacher, was in her classroom with her students when she saw the attacker. She assured that she immediately alerted the school administration before telling her students to take shelter in a corner: "They were very scared," the teacher told the local station KPTV. "It was very hard to see the expression on their faces". "I am sure that all the teachers at the school thought: 'Today is the day I will die'," she said. She also paid tribute to the person who intervened to shoot the suspect: "He did something and that required a lot of courage". "We are shocked and heartbroken" After the shooting, the parents of the school's students were told to pick up their children at a nearby church. "We are shocked and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy," declared Steven Cook, superintendent of the Bend-La Pine school district. "We express our sincerest condolences to the families and everyone affected by this violence. There are no words that can adequately express the pain our community is going through. "Our immediate priorities are to ensure the well-being of our students and staff, as well as to cooperate with law enforcement and emergency teams." The Bend Education Association, the local teachers' union, said in a statement that "all students and all the people who work in our schools deserve to be safe". It added that the deaths occurred "deeply move our entire community". "When an act of violence occurs in one of our schools, its impact goes much further than that building," the statement continued. "It affects our families, our colleagues, and the communities throughout our country". Shootings in the United States Oregon has approved a wide range of gun safety laws in recent years, which places it in the 12th position out of the 50 states in terms of rigor, according to the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. The state police conduct background checks on all people who attempt to purchase firearms. Around 96% of checks are approved in a matter of minutes, according to them. Some reasons why authorization to purchase a gun may be denied to a person include having been convicted of a serious crime or being diagnosed with a mental illness and being subject to an order prohibiting them from possessing one. The state also prohibits the sale or transfer of magazines with more than 10 cartridges. Persons under 18 years old cannot buy weapons. The state does allow minors to possess a weapon with their parents' permission, but only for certain uses, such as hunting. Incidents involving weapons in US schools have become more common in the last 15 years, according to the K-12 School Shootings database. This records every incident in which a firearm is discharged or pointed at in a school. In 2010, it recorded 15 cases, but in recent years there have been hundreds. The number reached its peak in 2023 with 352, and so far in 2026, 149 have been recorded. These figures include cases in schools where there were no deaths or injuries, but the Everytown for Gun Safety group has cross-referenced the database with media reports and claims that, as of October 15th, incidents this year have caused 33 deaths and 63 injuries. - Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries, and analysis, all in one place. 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