Three children and a teacher were killed on Thursday afternoon at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, after a 16-year-old forced his way into the building by firing at its locked doors. The gunman was shot dead inside the school by a local man whose two daughters are pupils there.
The children who died were 5, 8 and 11 years old. A 7-year-old pupil and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to St. Charles Medical Center and were still in critical condition on Friday. None of the victims had been publicly named.
Three minutes
The first call did not come from the school. At 12:59 p.m. Pacific time on October 15, 2026, a driver told Bend police he had been shot at several times from a vehicle by a person carrying a long gun. Dozens of 911 calls followed within minutes, reporting that the gunman had entered Silver Rail Elementary.
The school went into lockdown at 1:01 p.m. Officers arrived about a minute later — roughly three minutes after the first call — and found four people dead inside. Police cleared the building room by room and evacuated pupils and staff to a nearby church, where families were reunited.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said the teenager got in by "shooting at locked doors."
The man who stopped him
Police said a community member saw the gunman walk into the school, followed him inside and confronted him, killing him. On Friday he was identified as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident with two daughters enrolled at Silver Rail.
Giamanco's family said in a statement on Friday that he "is not seeking recognition," asked for privacy and declined interviews.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek thanked the man who "heroically intervened to stop further loss of life," and said "All Oregonians mourn this loss today." President Donald Trump called him a "great hero" on Friday and said: "Thank God we had him; otherwise, it would have been much worse."
The weapon and the suspect
Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the teenager was John Griffin, 16, a Bend resident. Police had not named him publicly, and said they could not confirm whether he had any connection to the school or to anyone in it.
Officials declined to specify the weapon or the number of rounds fired. Law enforcement sources told CBS News and the Associated Press that it was a pump-action shotgun bought by the gunman's mother. No motive has been reported.
The FBI's local office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Oregon State Police are assisting Bend police. FBI Director Kash Patel said agents were on the scene on Thursday.
A falling count that is still above where it was
Bend-La Pine Schools cancelled classes and athletic events across the district on Friday. Superintendent Steven Cook said "Today an unthinkable tragedy happened at Silver Rail Elementary School" and that "No community should have to do what we are doing right now." Hundreds attended a vigil at a town park on Thursday night. Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said a school "should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure."
The K-12 School Shooting Database counts at least 149 school shooting incidents in the United States so far this year, Bend included, against 235 for the whole of last year. The annual totals have come down from a peak in 2023 but remain above their pre-pandemic level — which is the part of the trend that the yearly decline does not fix.
Reporting from CBS News, ABC News and Democracy Now!
