By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The unidentified armed citizen who intervened Thursday and stopped a shotgun-wielding 16-year-old killer at Bend, Oregon’s Silver Rail Elementary School is being praised for his actions as more details emerge about the incident.
According to one retired FBI supervisor interviewed Friday morning by Fox News, the weapon was a pump shotgun, and it had been legally purchased, apparently by the teen’s mother. CBS News also reported this, but it has not been independently confirmed. But retired FBI agent James Gagliano did recognize the actions of the armed citizen in stopping the rampage. He also said a pump shotgun is an unusual weapon to be used in a mass shooting.
There were some indications the armed citizen hero may be the father of a student.
Four people, including three students aged 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher, were killed in the shooting, and one student and another teacher were wounded. The armed citizen, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, observed the gunman heading into the school—a so-called “gun-free zone”—and pursued, and engaged, the teen, killing him. When police arrived only three minutes after the initial call, the shooting was over.
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, issued a statement Friday.
“Once again,” he said, “an armed citizen with a concealed carry license has intervened in a tragic incident, bringing it to an end and preventing further loss of innocent lives. We are heartbroken that three children and a teacher died in this horrendous event, but we are gratified that a local resident had the tool, and the courage, to take quick action.”
He applauded the swift response from local police and Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies, and Oregon State Police
“There have been other situations in other states when police hesitated,” Gottlieb noted, “but our hats are off to the lawmen and women in Deschutes County who moved immediately to protect the students and staff at Silver Rail.”
The midday incident timeline shows a first 911 call to Deschutes County Dispatch at 12:59 p.m. By 1:02 p.m., police had converged on the school and upon entry, found the killer dead.
CNN is reporting that the teen suspect forced his way into the school by shooting at locked doors. “In 2022, schools in the district began receiving new door locks as part of a multi-million dollar upgrade that allow ‘anyone inside the classroom to turn the lock and secure the classroom’ and is designed to ‘increase the timeliness and ease of a classroom lockdown,’” CNN reported.
Not surprisingly, some anti-gun politicians wasted no time in calling for more gun control, despite the fact that none of the gun laws already on the books prevented the shooting.
CNN quoted Democrat Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who declared, “We need to pass gun safety laws now. Anyone who stands in the way is complicit.”
And Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, also a Democrat, issued a statement in which he contended, “The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools.”
Both lawmakers ignore the fact that gun laws already in existence, including gun-free school zones, assault and homicide, didn’t stop the shooter.
The victims, their killer nor the armed citizen have been identified.
