Cover photo: Tedder / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0.
A teacher's account of the shooting
A teacher who was critically wounded in the school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, has broken her silence, saying she survived by pretending to be dead after being shot at close range in her classroom doorway.
Becky Drury, 54, released a written statement on Wednesday through a family friend describing what she remembers of the Oct. 15 attack, in which three children and a fellow teacher were killed. Drury said she never had an opportunity to shield any of the pupils in the special education classroom before the gunfire reached her.
According to the statement, which was obtained by USA Today, Drury said she stepped out of her classroom after realizing something was happening outside, then saw the shooter and immediately ran back inside. She tried to shut the door behind her, but the gunman was already there, and she was shot at close range before she could do anything more, falling to the ground.
Unable to get up, defend herself or protect anyone else, she decided to lie still and play dead. "I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope he would not shoot me again," she said.
Why she chose to speak out now
Drury said she wanted to make sure the events of that day — and her actions in particular — were reported accurately, because she had seen contradictory reporting about what she did. Some coverage had suggested she threw herself over a student to protect them; she said that was not what happened, explaining that she had been shot before she had any chance to act.
She added that accurate, respectful reporting would help heal the wounds the tragedy had inflicted, and said her heart was broken for everyone affected by the attack. "Accurate, respectful reporting is a truly important service that will help heal the wounds inflicted by that awful day," she said.
What happened on Oct. 15
The shooting unfolded on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Silver Rail Elementary, a school in Bend, a city in central Oregon. According to police, a 16-year-old former student at the school opened fire on the locked doors of a special education classroom with a shotgun, blasting his way inside.
The attack, first reported by the BBC, killed three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and Megan Lambert, 25, a teacher and volleyball coach described in news reports as beloved by colleagues and students. A 7-year-old student was left critically injured. Police identified the gunman as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former special needs pupil at the school, and confirmed that the shotgun used in the attack had been purchased legally. Investigators are examining how the teenager obtained the weapon.
The rampage was halted inside the building. Authorities said the gunman was fatally shot by a bystander — the father of two children — who had followed him into the school. Before that, another teacher threw her cell phone at the gunman and then tackled him, wrestling with him for control of the weapon in an act that officials say likely saved lives, as reported by CNN.
Police squad cars with flashing red and blue emergency lights.
Photo by Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.
The death toll at Silver Rail Elementary places the attack among the deadliest school shootings in Oregon's history, and it has renewed anguish in a state where gun violence has repeatedly struck classrooms. Cases like this one join a painful national pattern — from the Fort Hood shooting to school attacks abroad such as the knife attacks at a Polish school — that keeps the question of how to protect students at the center of public debate. Readers can follow ongoing developments in our News section.
The wounded
Beyond the four people killed, two others were gravely injured. Drury remains hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said, while the 7-year-old student who was critically wounded continues to receive treatment. The identities of the two minor victims, ages 8 and 11, have not been officially released.
Drury's statement offered no detail about the children's experience in the classroom, focusing instead on her own actions and on correcting the record. Her account is one of several survivor stories expected to emerge as the community processes what happened. The restraint in her words — and in the police releases to date — reflects the sensitivity of an investigation involving minors on both sides of the tragedy.
The investigation continues
Bend police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the attack, including how the 16-year-old obtained the shotgun and what sequence of events brought him to the school that day. The firearm was purchased legally, the department confirmed this week, as Fox News reported, but authorities have not yet said publicly how the weapon came into the teenager's possession.
The shooting began shortly before 1 p.m., according to police, when the teenager fired at a truck outside the building and then shot his way through the locked doors to get inside, MyCentralOregon reported. The school district said the building had security measures in place, but the gunman forced his way through. Because the attacker was a minor, police have released only limited details about him, consistent with their handling of other cases involving juveniles.
Officials have also yet to say publicly whether a motive has been established, and they have cautioned against speculation. What is confirmed is the basic sequence police have described: the shooting at the truck, the forced entry, the attack on the special education classroom, the intervention by the second teacher, and the bystander who ultimately stopped the gunman.
A community returns to school
On Wednesday — the same day Drury's statement was released — students in the Bend district returned to class for the first time since the shooting. Dozens of officers were stationed at schools across the district to welcome children back, the Bend Police Department said.
The reopening marked the start of what officials acknowledge will be a long recovery for a small, tight-knit school community. Grief counselors and support services have been made available to students, families and staff. For now, authorities say their focus is twofold: completing a thorough investigation into how the attack happened, and helping a traumatized community heal.
