The heroic "good guy with a gun" who can stop an attack even before law enforcement can arrive has long been a rallying cry by gun rights advocates, arguing that armed citizens can act as a first line of self-defense and public protection.

Police in Bend, Oregon, are still investigating the motive behind the deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School. Four people were killed, including three young children and a teacher. Police identified the shooter as a 16-year-old who previously attended the school. They said he attacked a special education classroom before being killed at the scene. William Brangham reports.

There are many more questions to be answered about the deadly elementary school shooting in Bend, Oregon. To explore some of them, Amna Nawaz spoke with James Densley, professor and chair of criminology and criminal justice at Metro State University. He is best known for co-creating the Violence Prevention Project, a database of mass shooters in the United States.

Kenda Freeman said her son, Kaylub Giamanco, intervened in Thursday's attack at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend and shot the teenage shooter.

Police said they did not know if the shooter knew anyone at the school or whether he had attended.

Three children and a teacher were killed at a school in Bend. Police shot dead the 16-year-old suspected gunman.

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Four people, including three children aged five, eight and 11 and a teacher, were killed in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to preliminary information from authorities. Police shot dead the 16-year-old suspected gunman, Sheila Miller, a spokesperson for the Bend Police Department, said.

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Police were first alerted at around 1 p.m. local time to a person firing shots at a car. Minutes later, emergency services began receiving multiple calls reporting an active shooting at an elementary school in the area.

Authorities initially confirmed several victims but did not provide details about their medical conditions. At least two people were taken to hospitals for emergency treatment, Miller said.

⚡️GOOD SAMARITAN with a ‘LONG GUN’ PERSONALLY KILLS the Oregon elementary school shooter

‘The suspect had been shot by a COMMUNITY MEMBER who had seen the suspect enter the school, pursued him into the school, and engaged him’ https://t.co/cIBxSHPop9 pic.twitter.com/xadJ6NsXEL

— RT (@RT_com) October 16, 2026

Silver Rail Elementary School was closed, and authorities established a designated meeting point for family members to reunite with students affected by the incident.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she was closely monitoring the situation and praised law enforcement for its rapid response in a message posted on her official Facebook account.

The shooting comes amid a year marked by more than 350 mass shootings across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an organization that tracks gun violence. The group defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are killed or injured, excluding the shooter.

The incident follows a shooting on Saturday in Erie, Pennsylvania, where at least eight people, including two children, were killed after a gunman opened fire before dying by suicide, according to the press release.

Police identify shooter as 16-year-old resident of Bend, who was killed by an armed bystander; another schoolkid and teacher rushed to the hospital with critical wounds

The school principal and a 37-year-old teacher were injured in the shooting in Aubagne.

On Monday, a 14-year-old teenager armed with a hunting rifle opened fire at Joseph-Lakanal Middle School in Aubagne, near Marseille, in southern France.

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Two people were injured. The school principal was shot outside the school, French daily Le Figaro reported, citing police. A 37-year-old female teacher was also injured in the shooting. Both victims received medical treatment and are not in danger.

Aubagne Mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari explained that the students did not witness the incident because it occurred in a hallway while they were in class.

The 14-year-old, a student at Joseph Lakanal Middle School, entered the building and first shot the principal, then the teacher. The teenager was subsequently subdued and disarmed by the school’s senior adviser.

14-year-old arrested after SHOOTING school principal and teacher with a HUNTING RIFLE in France — France 24

The headteacher of Joseph-Lakanal middle school and a female teacher were shot in Aubagne, France pic.twitter.com/Q77Vr86RHy

— RT (@RT_com) October 12, 2026

French media outlets indicated that the armed attack might not be related to student protests given that no demonstration took place at Joseph-Lakanal Middle School.

“Parents, explaining that their children had witnessed the bloody attack, expressed their concern; the prefect and the mayor tried to make reassuring statements,” The Cradle Turkiyeit reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron praised the actions of those who managed to stop the shooter, thereby preventing a massacre.

“I commend the composure and exemplary response of the educational staff, which helped prevent the worst,” he said and expressed his “full solidarity” and “total support” for the principal, the teacher, the students and the parents who were “shocked” by the incident.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: EFE – The Cradle