Parents Recount Harrowing Moments During Deadly Silver Rail Elementary Shooting
Parents share terrifying accounts after a 16-year-old gunman killed four at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon. Discover the latest on this tragedy.
POLICY WIRE — Bend, Oregon — A mother of a fifth-grade student at Silver Rail Elementary School described the harrowing experience of receiving a text from her son during a deadly shooting at the campus. The message, which read, “Mom there was a school shooting we’re ok tho,” arrived shortly after she had been notified by the school of an active lockdown.
Johnston and her husband rushed to the scene, where they were directed to a nearby church to wait for hours with minimal information from authorities. It was not until approximately 6 p.m. that her son arrived by bus and was finally reunited with his parents, as fifth-grade students were among the last to be released.
The tragedy unfolded at roughly 1 p.m. local time on Thursday when a 16-year-old suspect from Bend allegedly breached the school by firing through locked doors with a long gun. The attack resulted in the deaths of a teacher and three children, aged 5, 8, and 11, while another teacher and a 7-year-old student remain in critical condition.
Authorities confirmed that the teenage suspect was shot and killed by a bystander who intervened during the incident. Another parent, Justin Penfield, arrived at the school to find a heavy police presence and encountered a man whose pickup truck had been struck by gunfire. This witness reported seeing the suspect throw a shotgun over a fence before entering the playground and firing at his vehicle.
Mindy Miranda, whose 8-year-old daughter was in an upstairs classroom during the shooting, expressed the community’s collective grief. She noted that the school was a place she previously considered a safe environment for her child to learn and grow.
During a vigil held Thursday evening, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler addressed the city, describing the event as a dark day and stating that there are simply no words for the loss that we have suffered. The community continues to process the aftermath of the violence.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
