Multiple people, including children, were injured Thursday in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, with at least two victims hospitalized and the suspected gunman shot dead, police said. CBS reported that several people had been killed in the incident, although authorities had not confirmed the number of fatalities beyond the suspected shooter.
The shooting occurred at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, a city in central Oregon about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Portland. Police placed the school on lockdown and launched a large emergency response, evacuating students and staff as worried parents gathered nearby.
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The scene of the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon
(Photo: AP Photo/Joe Kline)
Police initially received a report shortly before 1 p.m. local time that someone was firing at a vehicle outside the school. Officers arrived and found that the suspected gunman had been fatally shot.
Authorities said they had not established who shot the suspect and were investigating whether a bystander may have intervened.
"We have not yet received confirmation of the identity of the person who shot the suspect. It may have been someone who happened to be at the scene," a police spokesperson said.
Police confirmed that children were among the victims and that at least two people had been taken to a hospital. The total number of casualties, the ages of the victims and the severity of their injuries were not immediately clear.
"We went room by room and evacuated everyone inside the school," a Bend police spokesperson said. "This is an incident we would never want to see happen in Bend. It is devastating."
Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook expressed shock and grief over the attack.
"We are shocked and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy," Cook said. "We extend our deepest condolences to the families and everyone affected by this act of violence. Words cannot adequately describe the grief our community is experiencing."
Cook said the school district's immediate priorities were caring for students and staff and supporting law enforcement officers and emergency responders.
Emergency responders at the scene of the Oregon elementary school shooting
(Photo: AP Photo/Joe Kline)
Bend police established a family reunification center where parents could meet their children. Concerned families and community members gathered near the school awaiting updates, while police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks remained at the scene.
Silver Rail Elementary serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade and had 459 students enrolled during the previous school year.
The shooting comes as the United States continues to struggle with gun violence and repeated attacks at educational institutions.
In May 2022, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The massacre renewed national debate over gun laws, school security and the constitutional right to bear arms.
According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, nearly 15,000 people died in shootings across the United States in 2025.
Authorities in Oregon continued investigating the circumstances of Thursday's attack, including the identity of the gunman, the sequence of events and who fired the fatal shot.