THREE CHILDREN AND TEACHER KILLED IN OREGON SCHOOL SHOOTING, ARMED BYSTANDER KILLS 16-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN

SALEM, OCTOBER 16 /SRNA-Reuters/ – Three children and a teacher were killed in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, and the 16-year-old gunman was killed by a bystander, police said.

Police official Mike Krantz said the children who died were aged five, eight and 11, along with their teacher. Another member of the school staff was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Police said the 16-year-old gunman entered the school by shooting at a locked door and killed four people before being shot dead by an armed civilian who spotted him and followed him after he entered the school.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek thanked the civilian who had "heroically intervened and thereby prevented further killings."

Silver Rail Elementary School serves children through fifth grade and has about 450 pupils and 40 staff members.

Bend has a population of about 100,000 and is located in a rural part of Oregon, about 280 kilometers southeast of Portland.