Youngest Oregon school shooting victim was a fearless climber who loved stuffed animals

The youngest child killed in a shooting at an Oregon school was a fast runner and a fearless climber who also loved reading and his stuffed animals, his aunt said Friday.

Rhoam Summer, 5, was one of three children killed along with a teacher in the shooting Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, a mountain-ringed city of about 100,000 in central Oregon. The other two children killed were ages 8 and 11, and a fourth student and another teacher were wounded, police have said.


 He never met a stuffie that he didn't think needed to be rescued and cared for,  said Swan Sheridan, whose sister is Summer's mother.

Sheridan said Summer liked for all of his sea creature stuffed animals to be in his favorite color: rainbow.

 He had a great fondness for sharks and dinosaurs and creatures that were in his words, 'misunderstood,'  she said.

Sheridan said her nephew would climb and jump off anything and was an  incredibly fast  runner, even from a young age.  He was a little ball of energy from the moment he was born,  she said.

 He was a very, very happy child,  she said.

Teacher Meghan Lambert, 25, was killed, said police Chief Mike Krantz at a Friday afternoon news conference. Police confirmed Summer was one of those killed but won't release names of the other children who died at the request of families.

Lambert had her  dream job,  her family said in statement read at the news conference. Lambert grew up in Bend, graduated from Boise State in 2023, had a passion for sports, especially volleyball, and was a local coach, relatives said.

They described her as funny and opinionated and said she  lit up the room. 

 Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart,  her family said in the statement.  She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs. 

Police said 16-year-old Griffin J. John II got into the school by shooting through locked doors. Authorities said John had been a special needs student at the school and attacked a classroom with special needs students.


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