A 16-year-old gunman walked into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon on Thursday afternoon and opened fire, killing three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher. A 7-year-old and a 54-year-old teacher remain in critical condition after the attack, which unfolded in a single classroom.
What kept the death toll from climbing was a pair of split-second decisions. A teacher threw her cellphone at the shooter and tackled him. A parent, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, retrieved a legally stored .40-caliber handgun from his car and confronted the gunman inside the school. When Bend police arrived three minutes after the first 911 call, the shooter was dead. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz and Superintendent Steven Cook both credited the two interveners with saving lives.
The investigation continues into how a 16-year-old obtained a shotgun and birdshot, buckshot and slugs. That question, along with the vulnerability of the school’s glass doors, is likely to be at the center of the debate that follows. What questions do you have for local school officials about safety here on the Suncoast?
