Three children, one adult reportedly killed in Oregon elementary school shooting | Oregon

A gunman opened fire Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, killing an adult and three children, law enforcement confirmed to media.

The shooter is also dead, authorities confirmed.

Officials told the Associated Press that the death toll was preliminary and could change. Bend police and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

The deadly shooting shook the city of 100,000 on the Deschutes River, about 170 miles southeast of Portland.

At 1:02 p.m., police responded to Silver Rail Elementary School after receiving reports of bullets striking a car. Further 911 calls indicated the shooter had entered the school, continuing the attack inside.

By the time officers arrived on scene, the alleged attacker had been shot inside the school building. It is unclear who shot the suspect.

“This is the kind of thing we never want to see happen in Bend. It’s devastating,” Bend police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said Thursday.

Emergency services were working to evacuate the primary school, which has around 400 students enrolled, room by room.

The shooting appears to have started about an hour before the end of the school day.

The Bend-La Pine School District announced that all of its schools would be closed Friday due to the tragedy.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said on social media that she was monitoring the situation. “As we learn more about the tragic event that occurred today at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, we must come together and support each other, neighbor to neighbor, Oregonian to Oregonian,” she wrote. “No community should have to live through this day.”

The FBI is helping local authorities investigate the shooting, according to agency director Kash Patel.

More details soon…