Press conference on fatal school shooting in Oregon

And that process is still ongoing. Thank you. In August, every Bend police officer went through a full day of active threat training at a local high school. And unfortunately, this is something we train for on a regular basis, and we must. This is going to be a long investigation. We will have a large police presence at Silverwell Elementary School for the next several days as our officers continue to conduct a very thorough investigation so we get all the answers. We appreciate your patience as we continue to investigate this terrible tragedy. this is something we never want to happen anywhere but especially and particularly in our beautiful community here in Bend there are not really any words I can say to any of you that will make this better but please know that we are working hard to ensure that we conduct a thorough investigation this is a time that we know this deeply impacts the community I ask everyone to lean on each other and be there for each other thank you next up we'll hear from Dunlop High School Superintendent Steve Cook. Thank you, Sheila. Today, an unthinkable tragedy happened at Silver Rail Elementary School. No community should have to do what we're doing right now. I don't have any words for what this community is feeling right now, and I don't think anyone does. We are heartbroken. We are horrified. This is the kind of thing you hear about in other places, and pray that it never happens here, and it has happened here. Today it happened to our children, to our teachers, and to our families. To the families that have had loss tonight, we are with you and will stay with you. To our staff who helped our students and protected our kids today, we thank you. You did what no one should ever be asked to do. I am so grateful, beyond words, for your efforts. To our community, I echo what Chief Prance says. This is a time to love and care for one another and to show compassion for the victims and the families and their loved ones. All of our schools and communities, all of our schools and activities are canceled for tomorrow. We will have crisis counselors available at the Central Library for our students, for our families, for our employees, and anyone in this community that needs support right now. This is for everyone. Please hold your children, hold your loved ones tight tonight. Let them talk, let them cry, let them know we are going to rally and care for one another in this community. We will get through this, but not yet. We must grieve for the loss of our community members. Thank you. Next up, we'll hear from Bend Mayor Melanie Keeler. Today is an awful day for our community. Our hearts are broken as we mourn this tragedy and the profound impact it has had on so many people, especially the children, families, educators, and school staff whose lives have been forever changed. A school should be a safe place where children can learn and feel secure. What happened today should never happen. Like so many in our community, I'm struggling to make sense of a loss that feels unimaginable. I encourage our community to find comfort in one another and to support the families, students, teachers, and school staff who are carrying an enormous burden today. In the coming days, there will be opportunities to gather, including a community vigil tonight to mourn together, honor those affected and those lost and begin the difficult process of healing on behalf of the city of Bend I extend my deepest condolences to every person impacted by this tragedy we grieve with you and we will support one another through the difficult days ahead no matter how you're feeling right now angry, sad, devastated numb, those are valid feelings and in the coming days we're all going to need to lean on each other for support. So, Ben, your leaders are with you. We are here for you. We grieve alongside you, and we will get through this together. Thank you. And we finally hear from Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. I want to start by thanking and praising the quick thinking and courage of the Silver Rail Elementary School staff and parents and the first responders who rushed to the scene this afternoon. And to the community member, who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life. Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well. Almost a year ago, I was at Silver Rail Elementary School, and I spent time with the educators and community members calling parents to congratulate them on the attendance that their students were showing in the school. And I heard the joy and the excitement from those parents in those conversations. So my heart is absolutely broken today, and our hearts will stay broken in the days and weeks ahead and my daily prayers will be with this community, with the children with the parents and with the educators all Oregonians mourn this loss today this is a horrible day no parent should have to have this kind of day and no community should have to live through this kind of day and as we learn more about the children and the adults who have been killed or injured and their families and their loved ones, we are going to do a lot of crying and we are going to cry together and we're probably going to cry privately. We must come together and support each other neighbor to neighbor Oregonian to Oregonian The Oregon Department of Emergency Management is coordinating right now across multiple state agencies and I just want everyone here in this community to know that the state stands ready to support you in whatever you need There is going to be time for answering all those questions that we all have right now and searching for more ways to prevent this from happening in the future. But for now, let's hold each other close in grief and put as much love into the world as possible. Thank you. We have time for a few questions. I would ask that you raise your hands, and I will take a few. We'll start with Spencer from KTVZ. Spencer from KTVZ. What kind of long gun was used and how many shots were fired over the course of the events? The question was, what kind of long gun was used and how many shots were fired? Thank you. At this point, with the investigation being so orderly, we're not going to release any information about the specific type of weapon or how many rounds were fired. But as reported, it was a long gun when we received that information. Anyone else? Go ahead. I noticed a large police presence at some apartments near the school. Is that related to the shooting? The question was, there was a large police presence at an apartment complex nearby the school. and was that related unfortunately i don't have the exact details of which complex you're speaking of however i can say that we had dozens and dozens of police vehicles emergency vehicles fire vehicles arriving and assisting so it could have been a staging area that you're speaking of but there was vehicles saturating the streets and the parking lots all around Silver Road did the shooter know anyone at the school the question is did the shooter know anyone at the school? Unfortunately, I'm unable to answer that at this point. We just don't have that information yet from this investigation. Yeah, go ahead, Tyson. What resources are available for students and teachers at this time? The question was what resources are available for students and other community members at this point. At this point, we're rallying up crisis counselors across the region that are going to help support our families and families of students and our staff that have experienced this event. And that's, as I mentioned, that'll be starting tomorrow night, or excuse me, tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., available for anybody that needs it at the Central Library. Go ahead. Can you tell us any more about how the shooter got into the school and how far into the school they made it? Sure. The question was how did the shooter gain access to the school and how far did they make it? Chief, would you like to take that? Yes, from what the initial investigation is showing is that the shooter had forced their way into the school by shooting at locked doors. I'm sorry, you asked how far they made it in. I don't have that information at this point. Spencer, go ahead. The Good Samaritan, what gun was he using? How many shots fired? Did he have a CCW? What can you tell us about the person? The question is the person who stopped the suspect. What type of gun did he have? And did he have a concealed weapons permit? Yes. Again at this point so early in investigation I don't have those details yet. We do suspect we'll have more of that information as we do some follow up media information releases. And Peyton go ahead last question. Did the shooter attend the school at some point? The question is whether the shooter attended the school at one point and I think the chief answered that we are still investigating the shooter and we'll try and have more information about that tomorrow. That's about all the time that we have now. As I mentioned we know that there's a ton more questions and we plan to host another media conference tomorrow afternoon we will send out a media advisory if you have additional questions media inquiries at this point you can contact me and we appreciate you being here and we will hopefully be able to answer some more things tomorrow thank you we were just listening in on a news conference out of Bend, Oregon regarding the school shooting that occurred this afternoon Pacific time, just before 1 p.m. Pacific time. Here is what we know right now. There are five people who have died from this school shooting, including the shooter, the suspect, who is a 16-year-old who sources are telling Fox News was armed with a shotgun and killed by an armed bystander with a concealed carry permit. Three of the victims are children ages five, eight, and 11 years old. One teacher also killed in this tragic situation. There are victims in the hospital as well. And so there are a lot of questions about this shooter, how he gained access to the school. Did he go to the school? How how was he aware of the daily activities of the school? And how did he know the protocol around the school? Police said that their investigation is in its infancy, so they don't have any of the sort of final details about the shooter that the media wants to know about, including if he did, in fact, attend Silver Rail Elementary at any point. They did say that he was able to gain access to the school by shooting through the door, forcing through the door by shooting the locks and shooting through the door. The school, of course, went into lockdown when gunshots erupted. The suspect was shot, as I mentioned, by a community member who saw him enter the school and apparently followed him in and shot him dead. Really just an incredibly tragic situation there. some of the comments from the governor of Oregon and from community leaders there. They say this is the kind of thing that happens in other places. It doesn't happen in Bend, Oregon. Or they said at least it didn't happen in Bend, Oregon until it happened today. As we've been talking about here in the newsroom, Bend, Oregon appears to be the kind of place that you move to to escape city life. It's about 100,000 people. It's suburban-ish, rural-ish. It's not Portland. It's four hours away from Portland. It's sort of this small-town charm kind of place, the very place that people move to to raise their kids because they feel as if it is safer than raising them in a city or a bigger suburb. But they said, quote, today happened to our children, our families, and our teachers. As you might imagine, everything related to that school district and that community will be canceled. They're going to bring in crisis counselors as well. They said, hold on to your children and your loved ones. Hug them tight. Today is a day to talk, to cry. They said we will rally, but first we must grieve. Again, five-year-old, an eight-year-old, and an 11-year-old, as well as one teacher, dead in a school shooting that occurred in Bend, Oregon. Shots rang out just before one o'clock this afternoon. Police were on scene within two to three minutes, and the The suspect was shot by a member of the community who happened to be carrying a weapon and was able to disarm that 16-year-old Bend resident.