The shooter was already there': Oregon teacher recalls Bend school attack

A teacher wounded in last week's attack on a special education classroom at an Oregon elementary school says she never had a chance to try to shelter any of the children inside.

In a statement issued by a family friend, Becky Drury said Wednesday that she ran to see what was going on when she realized something was happening - but immediately saw the shooter and rushed back to the classroom.


Related video above: Safety experts weigh in on additional measures schools could take to prevent or delay a shooter from gaining entry

 I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there,  Drury said.  Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to the ground. 

Her left hand was nearly severed by a gunshot, and her right arm was struck as well. Unable to get up or defend herself or others, she said,  I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope he would not shoot me again. 

Zack Hall/Drury family via AP This undated photo provided by Zack Hall on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, on behalf of the Drury family shows Becky Drury, a teacher wounded in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Ore., on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (Zack Hall/Drury family via AP)

Three children - ages 5, 8 and 11 - and a teacher were killed at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, last Thursday when a former student there, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, blasted his way through locked doors with a shotgun and attacked the classroom. Another student was critically injured.

Authorities said another teacher threw her phone at the gunman and then tackled him and wrestled with him for control of the weapon, likely saving lives before the gunman was shot by a father who followed him into the building.

Some news reports had suggested that Drury threw herself on top of one student to protect her. Drury, who remains hospitalized, said she wanted to correct the record.

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