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A ۱۶-year-old gunman opened fire at the Silver Rail elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher.
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The student victims were aged five, eight and ۱۱. All of the victims were shot in the same classroom.
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On Friday, the youngest victim was identified as Rhoam Summer, age five. His family said he was a fast runner and fearless climber who loved reading and his stuffed animals. “He never met a stuffie that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for,” said his aunt, Swan Sheridan, who described him as “a little ball of energy from the moment he was born”. The names of the other student victims have not been released.
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The teacher who was killed has been identified as ۲۵-year-old Megan Lambert. In a statement read by officials on Friday, her family said she grew up in Bend, graduated from Boise State University and had a passion for sports, especially volleyball, and was a local coach. They said she was funny and opinionated, and “fought for the underdog” and “those with special needs”. “Meg loved those children,” the family said.
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The ۱۶-year-old shooter has been identified as Griffin J John II, a former student at the school. Griffin was killed at the scene. Police have yet to offer a motive.
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Police said that an armed bystander pursued the suspect and shot him inside the school shortly before officers arrived. On Friday, that bystander was identified by his family as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong resident of Bend with two daughters at Silver Rail elementary. His family and others have called him a “hero”.
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Two other victims, a seven-year-old student and a ۵۴-year-old teacher, remain hospitalized. As of Friday afternoon, authorities said the student was receiving “life-saving care”, while the teacher was described as having “significant” but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
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The wounded teacher was identified by family as Becky Drury. Her mother-in-law, Yvonne Drury, said on Facebook that she had injuries to her left arm and right hand and was recovering from surgery.
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Police arrived at the school at ۱.۰۲pm local time after receiving multiple reports of a shooting. One ۹۱۱ caller reported an individual armed with a long gun firing upon their car. At a news conference on Friday, police said the shooter climbed over a fence and onto the school’s property, before shooting through a set of locked doors and forcing entry into the building. He fired as many as ۱۵ shots from a ۱۲-gauge shotgun before he was stopped, police said.
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The attack has rocked the small city of Bend, which is home to ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ residents and is located on the Deschutes River, about ۱۷۰ miles (۲۷۵km) south-east of Portland. All public schools in the district, and the campuses of Oregon State University-Cascades and Central Oregon Community College, were closed on Friday.
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Hundreds of people gathered at nearby Drake Park on Thursday night at a somber candlelight ceremony to remember the victims. Some attenders called on authorities to harden gun laws in Oregon, already some of the tightest in the nation.
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Officials have praised the swift actions of law enforcement officers and of the community member who intervened. The Oregon governor, Tina Kotek, praised the intervention as heroic and extended her thoughts to the bystander. “Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden,” she said on Thursday evening.
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The FBI is helping local authorities investigate the shooting, according to the agency’s director, Kash Patel.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
