Bend teacher disputes reports that she shielded student

Becky Drury, the teacher seriously wounded in the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, said she was shot before she could act and then played dead, contradicting the account police gave of her role.

The statement was released on her behalf on Wednesday, October 21, six days after a 16-year-old former student forced his way into the school and opened fire in a special needs classroom. Drury, 54, said she ran to see what was happening outside, saw the gunman and went straight back to her classroom.

Bend police had said that Drury shielded Saylor, a 7-year-old student wounded in the classroom, KPTV reported. Her statement describes no such moment. ABC News reported that some outlets had said she threw herself on top of a student, and Drury did not identify which accounts she was disputing.

What the statement says

Drury said she turned to shut the classroom door and found the shooter already there. He fired at close range and she fell to the ground. Lying on the floor, she saw that her left hand was almost completely severed and her other arm was severely injured, and she could not stand, defend herself or protect anyone else.

Pretending to be dead was the only thing left to her, she said, in the hope the gunman would not shoot her again. Her husband, Will Drury, said she needed surgery on her left arm and right hand, KPTV reported.

Police described two people as taken to a Bend hospital in critical condition, a 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher. In a statement on Friday, October 16, the department said the injured teacher had suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was being treated at St Charles Bend hospital.

Her mother-in-law, Yvonne Drury, wrote on Facebook that Becky had been shot through her left arm and right hand and was recovering in the hospital after surgery that afternoon.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear, and the investigation into the attack was still open more than a week after it happened.

What happened on October 15

The gunman walked toward the school fence from an undeveloped area about 1 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. He tossed a shotgun over the fence and climbed over after it. The driver of a red Toyota pickup called out to him, and he fired at least three times at the truck; the driver kept going and made the first 911 call.

He forced his way inside by firing into the glass panes of an outside set of double doors, then turned left and went directly into a classroom, where he fired up to 15 rounds. He used three types of 12-gauge ammunition: birdshot, buckshot and slugs. The exact number of rounds fired in the classroom remains under investigation.

All four people killed were shot inside that one classroom. They were Megan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher at the school, and three children, ages 5, 8 and 11. Rhoam Summer, the 5-year-old, was named publicly, and police declined to release the names of the other two children.

Who stopped the attack

Another teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the gunman, then tackled him and tried to pull the gun away, Krantz said at a news conference the day after the shooting. She was not hurt. She has not been publicly identified.

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a parent of two students at the school, retrieved a .40-caliber pistol that was legally locked in his car, followed the gunman inside and shot him multiple times after seeing the teacher fighting with him. Officers arrived at 1:02 p.m. and found the 16-year-old dead.

Giamanco, a Bend resident originally from Placerville, California, came forward after the shooting, and his family said in a statement on Friday that he was not seeking recognition and wished to thank first responders, school personnel and the community, CBS News reported. The family asked for privacy and said they would not give interviews.

His mother, Kenda Freeman, who lives in Sacramento, told CBS News Sacramento that he called her shortly afterward and told her he had shot and killed the gunman. President Trump called Giamanco a great hero on Friday, and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said the bystander had heroically intervened to stop further loss of life and that the actions carried a heavy emotional burden.

Where the investigation stands

Detectives are working through what Bend police on Wednesday called a complex investigation. The department said it had served search warrants at the shooting suspect's home and on his electronic devices and his social media accounts on a variety of platforms, and that the work continues and takes time.

The department confirmed on Wednesday that the firearm used in the attack was purchased legally and declined to release further details about the gun. How the 16-year-old got the gun and the ammunition remains under investigation. CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that he used a shotgun purchased by his mother.

Bend-La Pine Schools began welcoming students back to its other schools on Wednesday, the first classes held since the shooting, and dozens of officers were posted at each one, Bend police said. The department said the increased presence would continue in and around schools over the coming days and weeks.

Two accounts of one classroom

What is in dispute is one detail: whether Drury covered Saylor, the 7-year-old wounded in the classroom. Police said the girl was given lifesaving care at the school and taken to Oregon Health & Science University. KPTV reported that police had also said Drury shielded her.

Drury said she was on the floor with her left hand nearly severed and could not get up, defend herself or protect anyone else.

A request to reporters

Drury ended her statement by asking the media to rely on trusted voices in Bend, writing that accurate, respectful reporting is a service that will help heal the wounds inflicted that day. She and her family asked for privacy and space during what she called a long road of recovery.

She said she wanted her own memories on the record so that the events of October 15 and her own actions were reported accurately. Her statement did not name the police department, referring instead to contradictory reporting about what she did.

I know there has been contradictory reporting about my actions that day, but the truth is I was shot before I had any chance to act.

At the news conference on Friday, October 16, Krantz thanked the people who stepped in during the shooting, including first responders, teachers and the parent who ultimately shot the gunman.

To the people who showed courage in the face of such violence and intervened to prevent this tragedy from being any worse, we owe you a debt of gratitude

Flowers and candles were left at a makeshift memorial outside Silver Rail in the days after the shooting. The school district said artwork and messages of love had reminded students and staff that they were surrounded by a community that cares deeply for them.

Her statement did not say when she expects to return to work. Bend police said on Wednesday only that the detectives' work on the warrants continues, and that it takes time.