Timeline of Oregon elementary school shooting as new details revealed about victims, shooter

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] An impossible story [music] yet again,

[0:02] right? The search for answers continues

[0:04] today into what led to that deadly mass

[0:06] shooting at an elementary school in

[0:08] Bend, Oregon. A teacher died along with

[0:10] three children. People gathered at

[0:12] prayer vigils last night and this

[0:14] morning for the victims, including a

[0:16] child and a teacher fighting for their

[0:18] lives in critical condition.

[0:20] >> Active shooter at Silverville

[0:22] Elementary.

[0:25] 100 p.m. Oregon time yesterday, police

[0:28] got that call about someone with a long

[0:30] gun firing into this vehicle. Then more

[0:33] calls came in saying the suspect, a

[0:35] 16-year-old local resident, fired shots

[0:38] at the door of Silver Rail Elementary

[0:40] School. 3 minutes after that first call,

[0:43] police got to the scene, finding the

[0:44] suspect dead inside the school. Live to

[0:47] CBS News, Elizabeth Campbell in a

[0:49] brokenhearted Bend, Oregon. Elizabeth,

[0:51] uh, I'm hearing a touchstone, a human

[0:53] touchstone to this story. It's my

[0:55] understanding this happened on picture

[0:57] day. So, you've just learned a little

[0:59] bit more about at least one of the

[1:01] victims. What can you tell me, my

[1:02] friend?

[1:05] >> Yeah, Reed, it is a tough morning here.

[1:07] It's another community in America that

[1:09] unfortunately has to prove that they are

[1:11] bend strong. It's something they never

[1:13] wanted to see. We're learning more about

[1:15] the victims. There was one who was five,

[1:17] one who was eight, one who was 11

[1:18] yesterday. We know that the 5-year-old

[1:20] was Rome Summer. He was a little boy who

[1:23] loved dinosaurs, who loved sharks. He

[1:26] says that he loved to draw and animals

[1:28] with big teeth. And it is heartbreaking

[1:30] as we hear that new information come in,

[1:32] learning more about who it was who

[1:34] tragically died yesterday. And we're

[1:35] seeing more community members come here

[1:37] this morning. They're leaving flowers.

[1:39] They're leaving teddy bears. They're

[1:40] they're holding each other. They just

[1:42] seem to all need a moment to process

[1:44] this. And it was a very similar scene

[1:46] last night at a candlelight vigil. I was

[1:48] struck by just how long everyone was

[1:50] hugging each other, just needing to feel

[1:51] each other and and knowing they were

[1:53] both alive. There was a the mayor spoke

[1:55] as well trying to give just a little bit

[1:57] of hope to this community. Take a

[1:58] listen, Reed.

[2:00] >> And while my heart breaks for our

[2:02] community, I will be holding in my heart

[2:06] our children, our teachers, our school

[2:10] staff, and our families as they recover

[2:13] from this terrible, terrible event.

[2:19] And that 5-year-old who we mentioned,

[2:20] Rome Summer, there is now a fundraiser

[2:23] available if anyone would like to give.

[2:24] In lie of that, his parents have also

[2:26] asked for any drawings of sharks or

[2:28] dinosaurs in his honor. Reed

[2:31] >> Rome Summer, we speak your name, baby

[2:33] boy. Okay. I know I have the same

[2:35] question that's on the lips of millions,

[2:37] Elizabeth, today, and that is why, of

[2:39] course, that's the job of investigators,

[2:41] but the person who killed children is a

[2:43] child himself. What do we know about

[2:46] that killer? What do we know about how

[2:47] he got that gun?

[2:51] >> Yeah, Reed, that investigation is

[2:52] ongoing. Just moments ago, we saw some

[2:55] ATF agents knocking on the doors of the

[2:57] houses right across the street from the

[2:59] school here, trying to get some more

[3:00] video, trying to get some more answers.

[3:02] We now know, CBS News has confirmed that

[3:04] the shooter was 16-year-old John

[3:06] Griffin. He was a resident here in Bend,

[3:09] Oregon. We don't know if he went to this

[3:11] school previously. It's an elementary

[3:12] school for kindergarten through fifth

[3:14] graders. He himself was 16. As you

[3:16] mentioned, he was using a shotgun that

[3:18] his mother had purchased. We don't know

[3:20] how he gained access to the firearm, but

[3:22] please stick with us, Reed. We have

[3:24] another news conference coming later

[3:25] this afternoon. We're working what we

[3:27] can to find out of this terrible motive

[3:29] and what drove this 16-year-old to such

[3:31] tragedy.

[3:32] >> No pain greater than the loss of a child

[3:36] and no kinder producer on our entire CBS

[3:38] News team than you, my friend, Elizabeth

[3:40] Campbell. What a blessing it is for the

[3:41] people of Bend, Oregon to tell their

[3:43] stories and give some humanity to people

[3:44] like Rome Summers. Thank you so much.

[3:47] So, let's take a deeper dive live to

[3:49] Katherine Schweite. She's a retired FBI

[3:51] agent and creator of the FBI active

[3:53] shooter program as a way to try to save

[3:55] lives and save off tragedies like this.

[3:58] Uh it's really impossible to transition

[4:00] from those broken hearts to the minds

[4:02] who are now looking for answers, but

[4:04] that is also a part of the story. So, we

[4:07] often find ourselves asking why. As

[4:10] somebody who has worked with the FBI,

[4:12] what will be question number one? As we

[4:14] just heard Elizabeth say, they've been

[4:15] knocking on doors trying to get security

[4:18] footage from people's various Ring

[4:19] cameras. What would you put as the top

[4:21] priority as you chase answers on behalf

[4:23] of the victims?

[4:25] >> I think victims want answers. That's

[4:27] that's that's exactly it, right? Victims

[4:30] want answers. And the challenge with

[4:32] these kinds of shootings is that there

[4:34] is no singular. There never will be a

[4:37] singular answer, right? So you have to

[4:40] think about it more like there is

[4:42] something that motivated this person on

[4:44] this trajectory towards violence and

[4:46] every single shooter is the same way.

[4:48] These are planned events and something

[4:51] gets them going and then they continue

[4:53] to do that. As they move on that

[4:55] trajectory towards violence, they act in

[4:58] ways and they do things that we can all

[5:00] see, what we call behaviors of concern.

[5:02] So, I think part of the investigation,

[5:05] of course, we can find out what this

[5:08] individual was writing and where he had

[5:10] how he was have getting access to a

[5:12] shotgun, whether it was locked up or

[5:14] not, things like that. but also, you

[5:16] know, what he did and and what others

[5:19] might have seen. Not because we're

[5:21] looking to blame other people, but more

[5:23] because we're looking for the

[5:24] opportunity to say, "What were the signs

[5:27] that we might have been able to see of

[5:30] this person mentally degrading and

[5:33] becoming so brittle that they chose to

[5:35] do this

[5:36] >> and how we all can as community members

[5:39] work to let police know, hey, there's

[5:41] something that we should have on our

[5:43] eyes." That speaks to social media. No,

[5:46] >> very much so. I think it's a challenge.

[5:48] You know, historically we say, "Oh,

[5:49] police should be able to solve this.

[5:51] Police should have prevented this." No

[5:53] more. We definitely recognize this isn't

[5:55] just a law enforcement thing. FBI

[5:57] research tells us that one in four

[6:00] shooters maybe the FBI or law

[6:02] enforcement had some information. But in

[6:05] general, particularly with schools, uh

[6:08] particularly in that age group of a

[6:10] young shooter, family members, uh

[6:12] friends, teachers, students, uh in they

[6:17] know three out of four times they are

[6:19] seeing a behavioral concern that maybe

[6:22] isn't reported. And we have to be more

[6:24] vigilant about do doing that because

[6:26] shooters shoot in their neighborhoods.

[6:28] They shoot their families. They shoot

[6:30] people they know. So you're protecting

[6:32] your own family and your own neighbors,

[6:34] your own schoolmates when you choose to

[6:37] step forward and say, "This doesn't seem

[6:38] right. I don't know what it is, but I

[6:40] want the professionals to look at it."

[6:41] Well, and as we look at another dynamic

[6:43] from what happened in those moments,

[6:45] there's the other conversation of how to

[6:47] protect our neighbors, and that is a

[6:49] bystander who we can only assume was

[6:51] armed because he confronted that

[6:53] shooter. What do you know about that?

[6:55] And what does the FBI have to say about

[6:58] that very issue of being prepared on

[7:00] another level that some people may say

[7:01] is a little extreme?

[7:04] >> It it certainly isn't, right? It's an

[7:06] extreme response. We Nobody wants to be

[7:07] shooting. I mean that shooter who who

[7:10] took down the took down the school

[7:12] shooter has to live with the fact that

[7:14] he killed a person, right? So nobody

[7:16] wants that situation if they can avoid

[7:18] it. But it is the reality of we have

[7:21] more guns than people in the United

[7:23] States. It's the responsibility of

[7:25] people who own those guns. I'm a gun

[7:27] owner, 20 years as an FBI agent. It's

[7:30] the responsibility of people who own

[7:32] those guns to ensure that they're locked

[7:34] up. I hear a lot of times in

[7:35] conversations. I teach a class in law

[7:37] school on the Second Amendment. I hear

[7:39] some people say, "Well, I grew up

[7:40] hunting. I've been around my guns. My

[7:42] kids are trained." It it isn't a matter

[7:44] of your kids being trained. It's great

[7:46] that a 16-year-old might be a hunter and

[7:48] is trained, but also a 16-year-old might

[7:51] not have the mental wherewithal as they

[7:54] begin to degrade in whatever their

[7:56] situation is because they dropped out of

[7:58] school, because their girlfriend broke

[8:00] up with them, because they're mad at

[8:01] their mom and dad, because of whatever.

[8:03] Especially teenagers. We all know how

[8:06] teenagers are. We've all all those of us

[8:08] who have raised them and and they're

[8:10] they're spontaneous sometimes in their

[8:12] decision making and it's not always

[8:14] thoughtful. And so there are a lot of

[8:17] responsibilities that we have and it can

[8:19] be stuff that you know years ago in

[8:22] Coline we weren't dealing with

[8:24] >> law you know websites that are I want to

[8:27] be a schoolshooter.com kind of websites.

[8:29] We are now. you can find anything you

[8:31] want in order to help you learn how to

[8:33] do this on the internet. And that's a

[8:35] responsibility for people who are around

[8:37] those computers and search engines and

[8:39] seeing what's going on, too.

[8:41] >> Once again, if you're just looking at

[8:42] that graphic at the bottom of the

[8:44] screen, CBS News has confirmed that

[8:46] sources identify that shooter as

[8:48] 16-year-old John Griffin. Katherine, it

[8:51] is a compassionate conversation that can

[8:52] and must be had about how to better

[8:54] protect our children as we get all of

[8:56] this breaking news today. I thank you so

[8:59] very much for the conversation. And for

[9:00] our viewers at home, continuing coverage

[9:02] throughout the day right here on CBS

[9:04] News 247 and as your dinnertime

[9:06] headlines develop on CBS Evening News as

[9:08] we all hold a thought and many, many

[9:10] prayers for the victims and their

[9:12] families. Peace.