Oregon school shooting kills four, teacher survives by playing dead

On October 15, a 16-year-old former student opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. The gunman fired through the school's locked entrance doors before entering a special education classroom. Three children aged 5, 8, and 11, along with a 25-year-old teacher named Megan Lambert, were killed.

A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher, Becky Drury, suffered serious injuries. Drury said her left hand was almost completely severed and her other arm was badly wounded. She pretended to be dead to avoid being shot again while the gunman remained nearby.

“I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope he would not shoot me again.”

Drury recalled hearing a disturbance outside her classroom and rushing to investigate. She said she turned to shut the door, but the shooter was already there and shot her at close range before she fell to the ground.

The shooting ended when Kaylub Giamanco, a parent of two students at the school, intervened and fatally shot the gunman. Authorities identified the attacker as Griffin J. John II.

Drury, who spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday, said pretending to be dead was the only thing she could do. She described the attack as a harrowing experience inside the Oregon elementary school.

The incident has renewed concerns about safety in special education classrooms. Students in such classrooms may have difficulty communicating their needs or understanding what is happening around them during an emergency.