Officials lay out how Oregon school shooting unfolded and share new details of investigation

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] I will now turn it over to Chief Mike

[0:02] Cray.

[0:10] >> Thank you. I'm Mike CR, the chief of

[0:11] police in the city of Bend. Thank you

[0:14] for being here this afternoon. First, I

[0:16] want to start today by acknowledging and

[0:18] grieving with the students, families,

[0:22] school staff, and neighbors who have

[0:25] been affected by the incident at

[0:26] Silverell Elementary School yesterday.

[0:28] My heart goes out to each and every one

[0:30] of you and I know our community supports

[0:33] you. Yesterday was a terrible day for

[0:35] our community and I appreciate the

[0:37] thousands of people who showed up at

[0:39] last night's vigil at Drake Park because

[0:41] you care about each other and that

[0:43] mattered. Some of you brought food.

[0:47] Some of you brought questions and some

[0:50] of you just came to be close to other

[0:51] people sharing your same grief. Deputy

[0:54] Chief Ksky and I attended this event and

[0:56] I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of

[0:58] support and love being shown neighbor to

[1:00] neighbor. That is what our community

[1:02] looks like.

[1:04] To our first responders who showed up in

[1:06] the hardest hours, we saw all that you

[1:11] did and we are grateful. You ran towards

[1:14] the worst thing any first responder can

[1:16] ever confront in our work with courage

[1:18] and compassion. Thank you.

[1:21] To the people who showed courage in the

[1:22] face of such violence and intervened to

[1:25] prevent this tragedy from being any

[1:27] worse, we owe you a debt of gratitude.

[1:31] And to the school district personnel who

[1:33] follow protocol with lockdown,

[1:35] evacuation, and reunification to keep

[1:38] your students and staff as safe as

[1:40] possible, thank you for your help.

[1:43] I know many of you are asking hard

[1:45] questions and some of you are angry,

[1:48] scared, and simply exhausted. Those are

[1:51] all valid feelings.

[1:53] The Ben Police Department with all of

[1:55] our partners are diligently working to

[1:57] answer all the questions

[2:00] and conduct a very thorough

[2:01] investigation.

[2:03] Today, I'm going to share specifics to

[2:05] this investigation that are hard.

[2:08] They're hard to hear and they're hard to

[2:10] accept. Our

[2:13] goal is to share vetted information that

[2:15] we can stand behind and be sure of and

[2:18] not to speculate.

[2:20] This is still an active and open

[2:21] investigation and my goal is to be be as

[2:24] open with information that I can while

[2:26] not jeopardizing any piece of this case.

[2:30] to write a a recap of yesterday's

[2:32] information that I released last night.

[2:34] At 12:59 p.m. on Thursday, October 15th,

[2:37] Dashes County dispatch received a 911

[2:39] call from a person in a vehicle who

[2:42] reported being shot at multiple times by

[2:44] a person with a long gun. Dispatch

[2:47] received dozens of 911 calls reporting

[2:49] that a shooter had entered the building

[2:51] at Silverell Elementary School on

[2:53] Southeast Stone Creek Lane in Bend.

[2:56] Dispatch used a tone to alert all law

[2:58] enforcement at 1:00 p.m. 1 minute later.

[3:01] Officers responding to the scene

[3:03] directed the school to go into lockdown

[3:04] at 10:01 p.m. Our first officers arrived

[3:07] on scene at 102. And moments later, an

[3:10] officer reported the suspect had been

[3:12] shot by a community member who had seen

[3:14] the sub uh suspect enter the school and

[3:18] pursued him into the school and engaged

[3:20] him, shooting him several times.

[3:23] Five people succumbed to their injuries

[3:24] at the scene, including the suspect. The

[3:27] deceased at the school scene included

[3:29] three children ages 5, 8, and 11, and

[3:33] one 25-year-old teacher.

[3:35] One 7-year-old child and one 54 year old

[3:38] teacher were transported by Bend Fire to

[3:40] St. Charles Bend with critical injuries.

[3:44] All students and staff at the scene were

[3:47] transported by Ben Leine schools buses

[3:50] to Journey Church for re reunification

[3:52] with families and guardians.

[3:55] The new information I want to share

[3:56] today

[3:58] a little bit of a recap as well. At

[4:00] approximately 12:58 p.m. on Thursday,

[4:02] October 15th, two vehicles were

[4:05] traveling westbound

[4:08] on Brentwood Avenue near Silver Rail

[4:10] Elementary School near the square box

[4:12] number one.

[4:15] At that time, the suspect approached the

[4:17] fence area of the school from an

[4:18] undeveloped area near Nenina Avenue.

[4:23] The suspect crossed the street, threw

[4:24] his weapon over the fence, and climbed

[4:26] the fence onto the school property.

[4:29] The driver of a red Toyota pickup truck

[4:31] witnessed this and verbally confronted

[4:33] the suspect. The suspect fired at the

[4:36] pickup, striking it at least three

[4:37] times.

[4:39] After the red pickup was fired upon, the

[4:41] driver continued down the street and

[4:42] made the initial 911 call.

[4:47] The driver of a second vehicle, a

[4:49] 36-year-old man whose children do attend

[4:51] the school, also witnessed this initial

[4:53] shooting incident. He drove into the

[4:55] elementary school parking lot where

[4:57] square number two is.

[5:01] The suspect walked westbound along the

[5:03] south side of the school and forced

[5:05] entry through an external set of double

[5:07] doors near number three. He fired

[5:10] multiple rounds into the glass panes in

[5:13] the doors to gain access to the school.

[5:16] The suspect went directly into the

[5:17] classroom immediately to the left of the

[5:19] entry doors where he fired as many as 15

[5:22] rounds overall. Although the exact

[5:26] number fired in the classroom is still

[5:27] under investigation. All of the victims

[5:30] were shot in that classroom.

[5:33] Three types of ammunition were used by

[5:35] the suspect over the course of this

[5:37] incident. All 12 gauge birdshot,

[5:40] buckshot, and slugs.

[5:43] The 36-year-old man who parked at the

[5:45] school took out a 40 caliber pistol that

[5:48] was legally secured in his vehicle and

[5:50] carried it towards the school.

[5:52] As he made entry through the forced open

[5:54] doors, he heard shooting and saw a

[5:56] teacher involved in a physical

[5:58] altercation with the suspect. He then

[6:01] went to the classroom where the struggle

[6:03] was underway and fired his weapon,

[6:05] striking the suspect multiple times.

[6:09] In the classroom, an injured 7-year-old

[6:11] girl

[6:13] who was receiving life-saving care at

[6:14] the scene is currently receiving

[6:16] treatment at OHSU. She is in serious but

[6:19] stable condition.

[6:20] The injured 54year-old female teacher

[6:23] suffered serious but non-lifethreatening

[6:24] injuries and is currently receiving

[6:26] treatment to St. Charles Ben.

[6:29] Officers and medics on scene attempted

[6:31] life-saving care on one boy at the

[6:33] scene. Two other children, both boys,

[6:36] and a teacher were deceased when

[6:38] officers arrived.

[6:40] The 5-year-old boy is identified at the

[6:44] request of his family as Rome Summer.

[6:48] At the request of the other involved

[6:49] families, we will not be releasing the

[6:51] identity of the child victims.

[6:54] The teacher who was killed and has been

[6:56] identified is 25-year-old Megan Lambert

[6:59] of Bend, and we will share her family's

[7:01] statement at the close of this press

[7:03] conference.

[7:05] Arriving officers on scene located a

[7:07] Maverick 88 pumpaction 12-gauge shotgun

[7:09] near the suspect as well as a backpack.

[7:13] In total, the suspect had approximately

[7:15] 44 remaining rounds of 12- gauge

[7:17] ammunition on his person or in his

[7:18] backpack.

[7:21] In addition to the 36-year-old man who

[7:24] bravely stepped in to stop the suspect,

[7:26] I want to highlight another person whose

[7:28] heroic action we need to recognize. A

[7:30] teacher in the classroom threw her cell

[7:32] phone at the suspect and then tackled

[7:34] him and fought to take the firearm from

[7:36] him. She was not injured in that

[7:38] incident, but she almost certainly

[7:39] helped prevent more bloodshed.

[7:43] Part of this investigation, we activated

[7:45] the major incident team. Roughly 150 law

[7:47] enforcement and first responder

[7:49] personnel have been involved in this in

[7:51] investigation, and we are thankful for

[7:53] their assistance.

[7:55] There are too many to name, but I'd like

[7:57] to give a special thank you to Dashes

[7:59] County Sheriff's Office, Redmond Police

[8:01] Department, Oregon State Police, the

[8:03] FBI, the ATF, and multiple other

[8:06] partners from far and wide from around

[8:08] the state and our federal partners who

[8:10] have come to support us through this

[8:11] very difficult situation.

[8:13] Our crime scene analysts completed a

[8:15] digital scan of the entire scene last

[8:17] night. We have collected evidence and

[8:19] executed a search warrant at the home of

[8:21] the suspect, and interviews are ongoing.

[8:24] Officers on scene this morning completed

[8:27] a second walkth through of the scene to

[8:30] determine if there's additional

[8:31] evidence. Our team has not does not

[8:33] intend to relinquish the school crime

[8:35] scene until Tuesday of next week at the

[8:38] earliest to ensure our search for

[8:40] evidence is complete. The FBI's victim

[8:43] assistance advocates will work with the

[8:45] school district to assist people who

[8:46] want to collect their belongings from

[8:48] the unaffected areas of the building.

[8:53] We will identify the suspect in this can

[8:55] one time in this case one time. I will

[8:58] not say his name again.

[9:00] The suspect has been identified as

[9:02] 16-year-old Griffin J. John II. He

[9:06] previously attended Silver Rail

[9:07] Elementary and we believe he traveled to

[9:09] the school on foot, although that route

[9:12] remains under current investigation. He

[9:14] is not currently enrolled at Ben Leine

[9:16] schools.

[9:19] How the suspect got the weapon and

[9:20] ammunition remains part of the active

[9:22] criminal investigation and I will not be

[9:24] able to address any of that part uh

[9:25] portion today. Um this remains a very

[9:28] active investigation and while we know

[9:31] that you have many questions, not all of

[9:33] them will be answered today and some of

[9:35] them may never be answered.

[9:38] Please hold the victims of this tragedy,

[9:41] the family

[9:43] [snorts]

[9:44] and your community in your hearts with

[9:46] me. support them, support each other,

[9:50] and use the resources that will be

[9:51] mentioned today if you need them. Thank

[9:53] you.

[9:58] Thank you, Chief France. Next, we will

[10:00] hear from Superintendent Steve Cook.

[10:12] Today I'm coming to you after [snorts]

[10:14] meeting with the Silver Rail Elementary

[10:16] staff.

[10:20] They are in so much pain as we all are.

[10:24] They were gathered to support each

[10:25] other, to share, and to comfort each

[10:28] other.

[10:30] I assure you, this tragedy has had a

[10:31] substantial impact to them and all of

[10:34] our school employees.

[10:37] They are grieving the loss of a

[10:39] colleague

[10:41] and three of our students.

[10:43] Like our families, our staff need time

[10:45] and privacy and so much support right

[10:47] now.

[10:49] I soon hope to be speaking with the

[10:51] families of the victims as well.

[10:55] As chief mentioned, vict victim's

[10:57] assistance is engaging with the families

[10:59] currently.

[11:01] I want our families to hear directly

[11:03] from me that we stand with them and we

[11:07] support them.

[11:10] To all of our Silver Rail families, we

[11:12] are deeply committed to supporting you

[11:14] through every stage of this crisis.

[11:17] This has been a terrifying and traumatic

[11:19] experience that will affect us all

[11:21] profoundly for years to come.

[11:27] I want to thank them all for their

[11:28] courage, for their support, and for

[11:31] their care for one another during this

[11:33] time.

[11:38] Silver Rail families are showing our

[11:40] community

[11:42] how to wrap our arms

[11:46] around our children

[11:51] to comfort and love and remind them that

[11:53] the adults in their schools

[11:56] and in their lives deeply care about

[11:58] them.

[12:01] I also need to acknowledge our staff

[12:03] member

[12:06] who fought for the safety of the

[12:08] children who engaged the suspect.

[12:12] I also need to acknowledge

[12:14] the community member who risked life by

[12:17] entering the the school

[12:20] and did not hesitate to step in.

[12:24] Thank you both for intervening on behalf

[12:27] of our students.

[12:28] I believe your actions saved lives.

[12:34] Today, in the days ahead, we are focused

[12:36] primarily on crisis response and support

[12:40] to everyone in our community and to

[12:43] anyone who's seeking help. The initial

[12:47] reports of the crisis uh counseling that

[12:49] are going on at Central Library has been

[12:52] that hundreds have shown up to receive

[12:54] that support.

[12:56] We will continue to provide access for

[12:59] this community.

[13:03] We are in the process and will begin as

[13:05] soon as law enforcement allows us to

[13:08] once the investigation is complete

[13:11] to investigate our own emergency

[13:13] response procedures,

[13:15] all of our safety planning and

[13:17] everything that is relevant to this

[13:19] invent event and investigation.

[13:22] Benpine Schools has invested heavily in

[13:25] school safety, secure entries, door

[13:28] locks, security cameras, security

[13:30] fencing, and we have a wonderful

[13:32] partnership with Dashes County Sheriff's

[13:34] Office and Ben uh Bend Police

[13:37] Department.

[13:38] We practice lockdowns with students and

[13:40] staff twice a year at every school. We

[13:43] train with law enforcement and emergency

[13:45] responders every year.

[13:48] Rest assured,

[13:49] we will take a hard look at everything

[13:53] and that we have done and what more

[13:55] needs to be done to ensure that our

[13:58] students, our staff, and our families

[14:01] are safe in our schools.

[14:03] Thank you.

[14:08] >> Thank you, Superintendent.

[14:10] Finally, [clears throat] I'd like to

[14:11] invite up Holly Harris. She is the

[14:13] Dashuites County Health Services

[14:14] Director.

[14:21] We're gonna keep an eye on this briefing

[14:23] in Bend, Oregon. You've been listening

[14:24] to the authorities, police chief of

[14:26] Bend, Oregon, superintendent of schools.

[14:28] I want to bring in Anna Shear, because

[14:30] there are so many things to discuss

[14:32] here. Anna, we heard that this event,

[14:35] this tragic and described as terrifying,

[14:38] traumatic event started actually outside

[14:41] the school

[14:43] when someone in a Toyota pickup truck

[14:45] saw this 16-year-old gunman with a

[14:48] shotgun, engaged him verbally, then that

[14:51] 16-year-old shot at that pickup truck

[14:54] driver. Someone who saw that interaction

[14:57] then sees the gunman go inside the

[14:59] school, follows him in there and becomes

[15:02] the shooter who stops more carnage.

[15:04] Anna, you can pick things up from there

[15:06] because we got a lot of details that can

[15:08] only be classified as new in this

[15:10] briefing.

[15:10] >> It's extraordinary. Only now in this

[15:13] moment do we understand the lengths that

[15:15] the shooter went to uh to get inside the

[15:18] school. He was not deterred by the man

[15:22] in the pickup chuck. In fact, he shot at

[15:24] that truck and then shot went around the

[15:28] west side of the school to enter through

[15:30] a side door after he shot at the locks

[15:33] to get the door open. And he went turned

[15:35] left and went immediately into the first

[15:38] classroom to the left as he entered into

[15:41] the school and opened fire there. Now,

[15:44] we've also just learned about a heroic

[15:47] teacher who threw her cell phone at the

[15:50] shooter and then tackled him.

[15:52] Unfortunately, he had already had time

[15:54] to fire off rounds, around 15 rounds,

[15:58] and there was more ammunition that was

[16:00] found there inside that classroom. It

[16:03] could have been so much worse, Major,

[16:05] had the teacher not intervened. And then

[16:08] also, as you noted, the other person in

[16:11] another vehicle who witnessed the

[16:13] altercation outside, he has two children

[16:15] at the school. We can report he went in

[16:18] after the shooter, opened fire, and

[16:21] killed the shooter. So just an

[16:23] extraordinary story and all of these

[16:25] details we are getting for the first

[16:27] time right now.

[16:28] >> Couple of other details Anna worth

[16:30] sharing with our audience. Just as a

[16:32] quick recap, the 7-year-old victim still

[16:35] alive, serious but stable condition. One

[16:38] of the children at the school,

[16:40] 54year-old, I believe teacher in stable

[16:43] condition. So the prospects it sounds at

[16:45] the moment, we'll say this with caution

[16:47] for both of those appear to be

[16:50] promising. You mentioned that there was

[16:52] extra ammunition available to this

[16:54] 16-year-old shooter. Police Chief Mike

[16:56] CR said 44 rounds remaining in his

[17:00] pumpaction 12- gauge shotgun. And the

[17:03] 16-year-old shooter, as the police chief

[17:05] emphasized, will be named by the

[17:07] authorities in Bend, Oregon, one time

[17:09] and one time only. I jotted it down.

[17:11] Correct me if I'm wrong. Anna Griffin J.

[17:14] John II. No motive. And as the police

[17:17] chief said, some questions will be

[17:19] asked, many will be answered, but some

[17:21] may not have an answer. He may be in may

[17:24] have been obliquely referring to the

[17:26] ever elusive and times like this

[17:30] question of defining a motive.

[17:32] >> That's exactly right. And exactly who

[17:35] purchased the gun? We we know from our

[17:37] own reporting that it was the shooter's

[17:39] mother who legally purchased that gun.

[17:42] Was it a purchase for him or did he take

[17:45] it without her knowledge that also the

[17:48] police chief said all of that anything

[17:50] surrounding the weapon is under

[17:52] investigation and so we'll be watching

[17:54] that very closely major

[17:57] >> just a remarkable story Anna on so many

[18:00] levels and to quote Steve Cook the

[18:03] superintendent of schools so much pain

[18:06] in the Bend Oregon community there are

[18:08] those who are seeking assistance

[18:11] counseling and otherwise People have

[18:12] gathered to lock arms. There's a small

[18:15] vigil outside the school. All these

[18:18] things sadly, painfully familiar to

[18:21] Americans who've witnessed over the

[18:23] years many school shootings, many

[18:25] tragedies of this kind. But the

[18:27] dimensions of this strike us as

[18:29] particularly

[18:31] deadly, compelling, and heartbreaking.

[18:34] Anna, any other thoughts you have

[18:36] before?

[18:37] >> Just a reminder to our viewers how young

[18:39] these victims are. Five years old, 8

[18:42] years old, and 11 years old. It does

[18:44] hearken us back to Sandy Hook, uh, other

[18:48] school shootings where the victims were

[18:50] that young. Major

[18:52] >> Anna Shakar, as always, deeply

[18:54] appreciative of your work.