Oregon School Shooting

*Warning: this story contains distressing details involving children

Three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and one teacher were killed in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday.

The 16-year-old shooter hopped the school fence with a gun before shooting through a locked door. Once inside, he entered a classroom for students with special needs and fired 15+ rounds, killing three students and one teacher, and seriously injuring another student and teacher (both are in stable condition).

A 36-year-old father saw the suspect breaking into the school and followed, shooting and killing him before police arrived minutes later. Officials praised the father and a school staffer for their “heroism” during the harrowing incident.

The teen shooter was a former special needs student at Silver Rail. Authorities are investigating a motive but believe he obtained the shotgun from his mother.

PRAY WITH US
O Lord, today, it feels like evil has won. Today, the world feels hostile, and precious life, fragile. But Your hand, O Lord, reaches farther than the darkness. There’s no place we could find where You will not be already, waiting to draw near, to be gracious. The darkness is no match for Your light, and its time is almost up. Meet us here in the valley of the shadow of death, and shepherd Your flock with Your tender, steady hand. Bind up the wounded and heal them. Strengthen the grieving to meet the coming days with endurance and patience. Speak hope into sorrow, life into death. Amen. (pray the full prayer with writers Steph and Bailey)