The perpetrator of the shooting that left four dead at an Oregon school used his mother's shotgun

The 16-year-old boy identified as the alleged perpetrator of the shooting at an elementary school that took place this Thursday in the state of Oregon (western United States) used a shotgun that his mother had bought for the attack. The event left at least four dead, three of them minors.

The authorities of the city of Bend, where the event occurred, appeared this Friday at the teenager's family home to search his personal belongings in search of clues or records of internet searches related to mass shootings, according to police sources informed CBS News.

According to the preliminary investigation, the attacker, a resident of the municipality whose reasons for committing the crime are currently unknown, as well as his relationship with the school, used his mother's shotgun.

The young man was killed by the father of two girls who study at the school. The man chased the attacker into the center and confronted him before police arrived, according to authorities.

The Police received the first calls to the 911 emergency service around 1:00 p.m. local time. The police chief explained that one of the first warnings came from a person who was in a vehicle and warned that someone was shooting at him with a long gun.

When the agents arrived at the center they found the suspect dead, as well as four other victims, three children aged five, eight and eleven and a teacher.

The district announced the suspension of classes and school activities to accompany the victims' families in their grief.

The United States has seen more than 350 mass shootings so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which counts these types of incidents and considers mass shootings to be those in which the number of dead or injured is four or more, not including the shooter.