Oregon school shooting victims include 5-year-old whose family is ‘broken and lost’
By Daniella Silva, NBC News
The three children and a teacher killed in a special education classroom at an Oregon elementary school Thursday included a 5-year-old boy whose family said they are “broken and lost” after the shooting and a young teacher working her “dream job.”
Rhoam Summer, a 5-year-old with long curly hair, was identified as one of the victims by a family member. The shooting occurred at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday. Officials said an armed bystander fatally shot the teen gunman, putting an end to the shooting spree.
The three children and a teacher killed in a special education classroom at an Oregon elementary school Thursday included a 5-year-old boy whose family said they are “broken and lost” after the shooting and a young teacher working her “dream job.”
Rhoam Summer, a 5-year-old with long curly hair, was identified as one of the victims by a family member. The shooting occurred at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday. Officials said an armed bystander fatally shot the teen gunman, putting an end to the shooting spree.
“We are broken and lost, but are surrounded by friends and family who are keeping us safe,” Summer wrote.
The other slain children, ages 8 and 11, would not be identified, officials said. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said that when officers arrived, two boys and a teacher were dead at the scene.
A 7-year-old injured in the shooting was stabilized in serious condition at a hospital, Krantz said. Another teacher, described as a 54-year-old, had “serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” he said.
Krantz said that when officers arrived at 1:02 p.m., two boys and a teacher were deceased at the scene. Officers and medics turned their attention to another boy as they attempted lifesaving care, he said.
The family of the teacher killed in the attack identified her on Friday as Megan Lambert, 25, a Central Oregon native and Boise State University graduate who dedicated her life to both teaching and coaching girls in the Central Oregon Volleyball Club.
She was a substitute teacher before getting her position as a full-time teacher, the family said in a statement read during an afternoon news conference.
“She loved Silver Rail,” the family said. “This was her dream job.”
She also loved volleyball, and rejected a salary during her first year as a coach so girls whose families couldn’t afford the costs of participating could play, the family said.
“She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs,” it said.
The attack began just before 1 p.m. Thursday, police said, as the shooter scaled a perimeter fence at the school, shot at and breached a set of double doors, and entered Lambert’s special needs classroom where he opened fire.
The shooter had been a special needs student at the school, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said at the news conference. A possible motive remained under investigation.
“There are simply no words for the loss that we have suffered today,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said at a community vigil hours after the tragedy.
The injured teacher was identified by her husband as Rebecca Drury.
“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support, prayers, and well-wishes following yesterday’s tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary,” he wrote in a statement. “The kindness and concern shown to our family and everyone affected mean more than we can express.”
“Right now, our focus is on my wife, Becky, and her recovery, and on supporting our family through an unimaginably difficult time,” he wrote. “We respectfully ask for privacy and space as we navigate the days ahead.”
Krantz said a teacher, not named, threw a cellphone at the shooter during the attack and tackled him. “She almost certainly help prevent more bloodshed,” he said.
The bystander who shot the attacker entered a classroom in which a teacher and the guman were in the middle of a physical altercation, Krantz said.
The person who took down the gunman was identified as Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a father of two whose students attend the elementary school, his brother, Kyle Giamanco, told NBC News.
Kaylub Giamanco is a hero, his brother said. Part of the reason his brother does not want to speak out is because he doesn’t feel like a hero — he can’t get the children out of his head and feels guilty he didn’t save more people, Kyle Giamanco said.
Kyle Giamanco also said he is friends with the family of the 7-year-old child who is in the hospital. The child, who is in a wheelchair and was shot in the face, is recovering from surgery.
