US: Four killed in Oregon school shooting

In the town of Bend, Oregon, hundreds of parents and classmates hold a candlelit vigil outside Silverdale Elementary School to mourn three students aged 5 to 11 and their teacher killed on Thursday. A gunman who breached the school on Thursday afternoon opened fire at a special needs classroom, shooting 15 times. He still had 44 rounds left when he was taken down. Nine-year-old Kalani was in a nearby classroom when the first gunshots rang out. We heard like a boom noise and we went into that first room and we all just hid in there and for like 30 minutes, even if we tried to talk we couldn't let it out of our mouths because we were just so scared and my heart was beating really fast. The alarm was first raised by a passing driver who confronted the gunman as he climbed over the school fence. Local police praised the swift intervention of two individuals, including a teacher inside the classroom, who threw her phone at the assailant before tackling and trying to disarm him. The second, a 36-year-old father of two students at the school who was passing by, saw the attacker enter and pursued him, shooting him dead with his legally owned firearm. When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. And the quick thinking to observe, to then park and follow someone into the school is incredible and undoubtedly saves people. The suspect has been identified as 16-year-old former special needs student at the school, Griffin John, but his motive remains under investigation. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the incident is the latest in over 360 mass shootings across the U.S. this year.