School shooting in Oregon: teacher throws cell phone - father pursues him

Many questions remain unanswered after the shocking act of violence at an elementary school in the US state of Oregon, in which three children and a teacher were killed. “Everyone wants to know why, including us,” said the head of the local police, Mike Krantz, at a press conference on Friday (local time). The motive of the 16-year-old suspect remains unclear. “We may never get the complete answer, but we still want it,” says Krantz.

Courageous intervention

The gunman was shot by a Bend resident who saw him enter the school and followed him into a classroom. Krantz praised the courageous intervention of the 36-year-old father of the family, who prevented an even worse tragedy.

According to US media reports, his two daughters were students at the school. The father of the family was on his way home during his lunch break when he heard shots and saw the attacker break into a classroom at the school. He then allegedly parked his car at the school, grabbed his pistol and gave chase.

According to police, another man in a pickup truck saw the attacker climbing over a fence with his weapon to enter the school grounds. When the driver confronted him, the teenager shot several times at his vehicle. The man remained uninjured and alerted the police.

The police chief also referred to the “heroic act” of a teacher who stood up to the shooter at school. She threw her cell phone at the attacker and tried to take the weapon away from him. The woman was uninjured, Krantz said.

Teacher with “dream job” killed

The shooting killed three boys aged 5, 8 and 11, as well as a 25-year-old teacher. The teacher's family said in a statement that the young woman loved her work and had found her "dream job" at the school. A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with injuries. It was said that their lives were no longer in danger.

The investigators stated that all of the victims were in a classroom. The shots were fired in a classroom for children with special needs. The attacker used to be one of the school's "special needs" students.

Krantz did not provide any information about how the 16-year-old got his gun and ammunition. The investigation into this was still ongoing. The attacker was in possession of a so-called repeating shotgun, which is often referred to as a “pump gun”. He fired around 15 shots and had another 44 rounds of ammunition with him.

In the USA, gun violence is practically part of everyday life, with the number of victims running into the tens of thousands every year. Pistols and larger caliber weapons are easily accessible and millions of them are in circulation. Particularly serious attacks often spark debates about tightening gun laws - but these usually have no consequences. Ultimately, attempts at reform usually fail due to resistance from the powerful gun lobby and its sympathetic Republicans.