A person with a gun opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, wounding multiple victims, including children, before the assailant was killed, possibly by an armed onlooker, according to police.

CNN and CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that one adult and three children were killed in the violence, but it was not immediately clear whether the shooter was included in that death toll.

CBS News later reported the shooter was 16 years old.

Police in Bend, a city of about 100,000 residents in central Oregon, ⁠280 km southeast of Portland, said the first call they received from the 1 pm incident "indicated that an unknown man had shot into a car" at Silver Rail Elementary.

Police officers arriving seconds later found that the suspect had been shot dead, possibly by a bystander, police said in a statement.

Sheila Miller, a spokesperson for the Bend Police Department, told reporters investigators had yet to confirm who shot the suspect.

Miller told reporters that at least two victims were transported to a hospital but she was unaware of their condition. The subsequent police statement, posted online, said, authorities "have confirmed there were multiple victims," with at least two taken to hospital, adding, "Children are among the victims."

Silver Rail Elementary School serves grades kindergarten through fifth grade, roughly ages 5 to 11. It has about 450 students and 40 staff members, Miller said.

The Bend-La Pine School District said on social media that the Silver Rail Elementary School was under lockdown.

An updated post later said law enforcement was escorting students in buses to a separate location, where families could reunite with their children.

"We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy," said Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook in a statement.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the families and to everyone affected by this violence. No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing."

There have been more than 360 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.

"Our hearts are with the terrified children and the families anxiously waiting to hear that their loved ones are safe," GIFFORDS, a gun safety organisation, said on X.

"We cannot keep accepting this as a fact of life." (Agencies)



Edited by Cecil Wong