Special education students targeted in US school shooting by former student, police say

Families have been torn apart and Good Samaritans honoured as fresh details emerge after a teenager opened fire at an elementary school in the US .

Police have revealed 16-year-old Griffin J. John II was armed with a pump-action shotgun when he entered Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon , and opened fire about 1pm on Thursday, local time.

John fired as many as 15 rounds into a special education classroom, killing three students, aged 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher.

Another teacher and a seven-year-old student remain in hospital with critical injuries.

The horrific ordeal lasted just two minutes and was brought to an end after a carpenter ran towards danger before shooting John dead.

The details were revealed by local officials during a press conference on Friday, local time, as the FBI-aided investigations piece together what led to the shooting.

Bend-La Pine schools Superintendent Steven Cook said John used to be a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary, which Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said was the target of the attack.

Kelik Summer took to social media hours after the shooting to confirm her son, five-year-old Rhoam Summer, was one of the victims.

“(Today was) the worst day of my life,” she said, adding: “My son Rhoam was killed in a school shooting.”

“We are broken and lost, but are surrounded by friends and family who are keeping us safe.”

The family of 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert have also come forward following the tragedy, saying she lived to teach.

“She loved Silver Rail,” her family said in a statement read during Friday’s news conference.

Lambert was a Central Oregon native who graduated from Boise State University in 2023 and coached girls in the Central Oregon Volleyball Club, the family said.

She also loved volleyball, and turned down pay during her first season at the club so girls who normally couldn’t afford the costs of participation could play.