By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
Authorities believe at least five people are dead following a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case.
The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Both said the death toll was preliminary and could change.
The suspected shooter was 15 or 16 years old, one of the sources said.
Bend police spokesperson Sheila Miller earlier confirmed the suspect is dead. It wasn’t clear if the suspect was included among the five.
Miller also said multiple victims were children.
“We don’t have a number at this point. We know children are among the victims,” Miller said during a media briefing.
Authorities received a call about a shot fired into a car outside Silver Rail Elementary at 12:59 p.m. and arrived on scene within minutes. Further 911 calls came from inside the school, she said.
A sheriff’s deputy walks outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
Police tape is placed outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
School buses are lined up outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
Police tape is placed outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
Police tape is placed outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
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A sheriff’s deputy walks outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 in Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Joe Kline)
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The attacker was shot and went down inside the school soon after police arrived, Miller said.
It was not immediately clear if it was by police, a bystander or self-inflicted.
Miller said two people were transported to St. Charles Bend hospital following the shooting, and their conditions were not immediately known. A spokesperson for the hospital did not immediately return a request for comment from the AP.
Silver Rail Elementary was under lockdown, the Bend-La Pine school district wrote on Facebook.
“We’re in the process at this time of going room by room and evacuating each of the people who are in that school. … This is the kind of thing we never want to see happen in Bend. It’s devastating,” Miller said, pausing to control her emotions.
The school in Bend, Oregon, which is more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Portland, had 459 enrolled students as of last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education. The school serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
