I think I’ve rewritten this post about 6 times already trying to get across all that I’ve thought and felt in the past 36 hours since this whole tragic event happened.
I’ve lived my entire life in Bend, Oregon and for all its flaws, the one thing I never thought I would ever witness here was a shooter entering a school and killing children. I’m not even trying to be naive about this because I’m not the only person who lives here and thought this.
Bend had been listed among some of the safest cities to live in the US for years. We aren’t a tiny community but we aren’t huge and it’s idyllic here in so many ways. We have a small town feel even though we continue to grow.
This tragedy has cast us into the national spotlight and it’s horrible we are there for this. Yes, I’m thankful for the dad who followed the gunman into the school and took him down before he could kill more innocent lives but I’m saddened by the loss of 5 lives.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m including the shooter in this count. Because he could have chosen a different path to release whatever was bothering him and he didn’t.
We may never know the full story of why this all occurred but our community will be forever changed because it happened.
One teacher and 3 children died on 10/15/26 for no other reason than they were there. 2 more innocent people were critically wounded.
We ask for your prayers and support as the families of those who were lost grieve and as we as a community move forward into a changing future.
