An attack at an elementary school in Oregon was stopped by an armed civilian.

 

Police gather at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend Oregon. BBC/Reuters.

An attack at an elementary school at Bend Oregon was stopped by an armed civilian. BBC. The attacker was a 16 year old armed with a "long gun" (a pump action shotgun in some reports). The attacker fired into a pickup truck before using his weapon to break into the school. He then opened fire killing three children and a teacher. However, an armed citizen, who reportedly had a CCW permit, was able to follow the suspect and kill them before any further deaths occurred. Details of the shooter, their motivation and their identity as well as information about the civilian who stopped them is unavailable at this time. 

My Comment:

As is tradition when a mass shooting occurs but does not help the Democrats, we do not have much information about this shooter or the person who stopped them. Such information will eventually be released but right now I won't speculate too much on the identity of the shooter or their motivations. 

What is clear that this situation, tragic as it was, could have been dramatically worse. The security at this school failed. The attacker was able to break in with his firearm and once that happened there was no longer a line of defense. 

I do question reports that this was a shotgun. Video has been posted, supposedly by the owner of the truck that was shot up. The bullet holes seem like they were from a long-rifle, not a shotgun. And given the number of bullet holes in the truck, it's possible that this was a semi-auto rifle instead. I guess it's possible that the attacker was skilled and was using a shotgun loaded with slugs, but that seems unlikely for what is almost certainly a stolen weapon.

Video taken by a person whose truck shot multiple times by the Silver Rail Elementary School shooter in Bend, Oregon. https://t.co/5likBe02By

— grey 🫐 (@imactuallyhugee) October 16, 2026

 

Regardless, I do think that the person who confronted the shooter and put them down is a hero, obviously. Not only did he confront an armed attacker, he did it in a blue state where doing such things is illegal. Guns were barred at this elementary school, and in theory, the civilian could face charges for his actions. That would be extremely unlikely, especially in Central Oregon which is more politically diverse than Portland. But by the letter of the law, the civilian violated the law. They ignored the law and did the right thing anyways. 

Unfortunately, I don't think Oregon will loosen gun laws after this attack. Indeed, it's a lot more likely that more restrictive gun laws could be put into place. Those laws will probably ban the very actions that ended this attack. I just have zero faith in a far left state like Oregon to do the right thing here. 

I do think that media coverage for this attack will fade very quickly into the background. It's damaging to the Democrats gun control narrative and unless there is some angle they can hang onto, this case will likely disappear unless the gun rights community refuses to let it go. There's a possibility there is some other angle that will emerge, due to the lack of information about the suspect, but I am guessing this attack will be forgotten in a week.