A teacher wounded in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, last week said in a statement Wednesday that she turned to shut her classroom door but found the gunman already there and was shot.1,3
The teacher, Becky Drury, 54, said in the statement that she was shot before she had "any chance to act" and then pretended to be dead to survive. The attack at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15 left three students, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher dead, according to the Daily Wire, which named the teacher as Megan Lambert.3,5
In the statement, Drury said she was running to see what was happening outside her classroom and tried to shut the door, but "the shooter was already there."3,1
The New York Post named the shooter as Griffin John. The Daily Wire reported that he was a 16-year-old former student who had previously received special education services at the school. According to the Daily Wire, police said the teenager shot his way into the school and opened fire in a special education classroom.2,5
According to the Daily Wire, an armed parent, Kaylub Giamanco, followed the gunman into the school and shot him after a teacher had tackled him and was grappling with him for control of the weapon. Giamanco's mother, Kenda Freeman, told CBS News Sacramento that he called her after the shooting. "He said, 'Mom, I just shot and killed somebody,'" Freeman said.5
The New York Post described Drury as critically injured. The Daily Wire reported that a 7-year-old student, who was in a wheelchair, was reportedly shot in the face and hospitalized.2,5
CBS News reported, citing sources, that the shotgun used in the attack was a birthday gift from the shooter's mother.5
The New York Post reported that the shooter's father had a history of alcohol abuse and had been arrested after assaulting the boy's mother. The Daily Wire, citing that report, said the father had been released early from a prison sentence and had petitioned a judge to lift a restraining order so that he could see his son. The Daily Wire also noted that the Post reported it was unclear whether the father was convicted in a later case.2,5
