Police said all four fatalities occurred in the same classroom
A 16-year-old former student opened fire inside a special needs classroom at an elementary school in Oregon, killing three children and a teacher, after allegedly forcing his way into the building with a shotgun bought by his mother, according to police and media reports. The victims were three children aged five, eight and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert. A seven-year-old child who uses a wheelchair and a 54-year-old teacher were also injured in the attack, according to The New York Post. Authorities said the teenager fired as many as 15 rounds from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. He reportedly had about 44 rounds remaining when he was killed. Lambert’s family remembered the 25-year-old teacher as compassionate and devoted to children.
Police said all four fatalities occurred in the same classroom, which John had previously attended as a special needs student. Police Chief Mike Krantz said a teacher confronted the gunman by throwing her phone at him before tackling and fighting him in an attempt to seize his weapon. School district official Steve Cook said the school would investigate its emergency response procedures following the shooting. Police communications manager Sheila Miller said teaching at Silver Rail Elementary had been Lambert’s first job and that working in the school district she loved had been her dream.
The attacker, identified as Griffin J. John II, was eventually stopped by a father who followed him into the school and shot him. Investigators are still examining the motive behind the attack and how the teenager obtained the firearm. The father, who was carrying a concealed firearm, opened fire on the teenager, disrupting his attempt to enter through the front. John then allegedly ran around to the rear of the building, forced open a locked door and made his way to his former classroom, where he opened fire. She was not injured.
He added that students practised lockdown drills twice a year and that the latest drill had taken place about two weeks earlier. The shooting took place at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday.