Bend school district honors slain teacher, praises staff member’s courage in attack
BEND, Ore. — The Bend-La Pine school district is mourning the deaths of three children and a teacher in this week’s mass shooting, while honoring the educator and staff member who put themselves in danger to protect others.
“Our hearts are broken,” the district said in a social media statement. “They responded to an attack on their school in a way for which we are forever grateful.”
Megan Lambert, 25, a special education teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, was among those killed.
Lambert had joined the district this fall, beginning her first job as a teacher.
Becky Drury, left, an inclusion educational assistant, was injured when a gunman opened fire inside the Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., earlier in the week. Megan Lambert, right, a special education teacher, was killed in the attack. On Saturday, the district praised both for their response to the deadly shooting that took the lives of Lambert and three children. (Bend-La Pines Schools)
The district described Lambert as a bright light to her “students, family, and our community,” adding that “she will be missed beyond words can express.”
Officials also recognized Becky Drury, an inclusion educational assistant who was wounded in the shooting and remains on the road to recovery.
“We continue to wrap our arms around Becky Drury,” the district wrote. It also said a learning specialist displayed “extraordinary courage” by confronting the shooter directly, adding that the district was “so thankful for her safety and forever in her debt.”
Rhoam Summer, 5, was one of three children shot and killed at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., Thursday. (AP; Bend Police Department)
The shooting has shaken Bend, a central Oregon community about 170 miles south of Portland.
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Residents gathered near the school Saturday to remember Lambert and the three children killed: 5-year-old Rhoam Summer and two others, ages 8 and 11, whose families asked that their names remain private.
Police said a 7-year-old girl and Drury were also injured and are recovering.
Outside Silver Rail Elementary, a growing sidewalk memorial has filled with flowers, prayers and chalk messages expressing grief and support.
Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a father of two daughters at Silver Rail Elementary School, had been praised as a hero for killing the gunman who killed three children and a teacher in the attack. (AP; Kevin Perkins for News Outlet)
Authorities and community members have also praised Kaylub Giamanco, 36, whose two children attend Silver Rail, for intervening during the attack.
Giamanco was on his lunch break when he saw the teenage gunman enter the school carrying a shotgun. He retrieved a legally secured .40-caliber pistol from his car, followed the shooter into the building and fatally shot him.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz credited the swift actions of civilians and school employees, including an unnamed teacher who confronted the gunman by throwing a cellphone and tackling him.
A person places flowers at a makeshift memorial on the other side of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Friday, a day after a deadly shooting. (Haven Daley/AP Photo)
“The teacher… was willing to stand and fight for her children,” Krantz said Friday. “I think we all recognize that that is true heroism. She almost certainly helped avoid more bloodshed.”
