Five people killed in Oregon elementary school shooting, police say

A gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, fatally shooting one adult and three children, law enforcement officials confirmed to news outlets.

The gunman is also dead, authorities confirmed.

Officials told the Associated Press the death toll was preliminary and could change. Bend police and the Department of Justice did not immediately return the Guardian’s request for comment.

The deadly shooting has rocked the city of 100,000 residents located on the Deschutes River, roughly 170 miles south-east of Portland.

At 1.02pm, police responded to Silver Rail elementary school after receiving reports of bullets striking a car. Additional 911 calls stated the gunman had entered the school, continuing the attack inside.

By the time officers arrived on scene, the suspected assailant had been shot and killed inside the school building. It is unclear who shot the suspect.

“This is the kind of thing we never want to see happen in Bend. It’s devastating,” said Sheila Miller, a Bend police spokesperson, on Thursday.

Emergency officials were working to evacuate the elementary school, which has about 400 students enrolled, room by room.

The shooting appeared to begin about an hour before the school day was set to end.

The Bend-La Pine school district announced all of its schools would be closed on Friday due to the tragedy.

Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said on social media she was monitoring the situation. “As we learn more about the tragic event at Silver Rail elementary in Bend today, we must come together and support each other, neighbor to neighbor, Oregonian to Oregonian,” she wrote. “No community should have to live through this day.”

The FBI is helping local authorities investigate the shooting, according to the agency’s director, Kash Patel.