The teacher who was shot and killed at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Ore on Thursday graduated from Boise State University, according to a statement from her family that was read during a press conference.
Megan Lambert grew up in Bend, went to Mountain View High School and graduated from Boise State in 2023. She was 25 years old.
In a statement, her family said Lambert's goal was to be an educator and to teach in the school district she loved growing up in. Teaching at Silver Rail was her first full-time job as an educator, but she was a substitute for many years before, according to the statement.
"Megan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs," her family said in the statement.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports three children, aged 5, 8 and 11, were also killed. Another child, age 7, and a second teacher are being treated at a hospital in Bend. The 7-year-old girl is in "serious but stable condition," and the teacher received serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to police.
One child has been identified, at the request of his family, as Rhoam Summer, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz.
Police identified the shooter as 16-year-old Griffin J. John at a press conference. John was a student at Silver Rail Elementary and police say he climbed a perimeter fence to get onto school grounds and shot his way into the building.
John went into a classroom directly to the left of the entry doors and fired as many as 15 rounds into the classroom, but police say the exact number of shots fired is still under investigation. All of the victims were shot in that classroom, according to police.
Krantz said a teacher had thrown her cell phone at the suspect and tackled him in an attempt to take the gun away. That teacher was not injured.
John was shot and killed by a bystander, who police say did not want his identity revealed, except for saying he was a 36-year-old man. The man saw a teacher wrestling with the suspect and shot him multiple times with a .40-caliber pistol, according to police.
Lambert's family said in their statement that they know the bystander is going through a rough time, but "they are grateful and think he is a hero."
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