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Good morning, Northwest.
Three children and one teacher died in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend yesterday afternoon. The suspected shooter also died at the scene at the hands of a bystander, according to police.
Schools in the Bend-La Pine district are closed today, and all activities and athletic events are canceled as the community grieves.
Today’s newsletter focuses on OPB’s coverage from Bend, starting with last night’s vigil for victims in Drake Park. OPB will continue to report this story throughout the day, which you can follow here.
— Bradley W. Parks
Top story
People wave their hands in prayer during a candlelight vigil at Drake Park after three children and a teacher were killed in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore. on Oct. 15, 2026. The suspected shooter was a 16-year-old who entered the school and was killed by an armed bystander, bringing the total number of deaths to five.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Bend reels after 3 children, 1 teacher killed in school shooting
People gathered to share songs and prayer at a vigil in Drake Park in Bend hours after yesterday’s deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.
A total of five people, including the suspected shooter, died at the school earlier Thursday.
A dozen local clergy members were among the first to arrive at the park’s amphitheater last night, circling together for prayer. Then more people arrived. Individuals, families, friends, strangers, adults and children.
Hundreds of people filled the park as the sky fell into darkness. They held candles and huddled together, filling the air with hymns – a tight-knit community, coming together to mourn. (Emily Cureton Cook, Jireh Deng, Joni Auden Land, Troy Brynelson and Courtney Sherwood)
4 things to know
Numbers mark evidence as police investigate a fatal shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., Oct. 15, 2026.
Eleanor Moseman for OPB
- Officials confirmed three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — are dead. A teacher died as well. A 7-year-old and 54-year-old were treated at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.
- The suspected shooter, a 16-year-old boy whom officials have not identified, used a “long gun,” a category of firearm that includes rifles and shotguns, during the attack. His connection to the school — if any — wasn’t clear.
- A bystander who saw the 16-year-old suspected shooter enter Silver Rail Elementary School followed him, confronted and fatally shot him, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said during a press conference yesterday.
- Bend-La Pine Schools canceled classes districtwide today, including scheduled activities and athletic events.
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