The elementary school shooting in Bend, Ore. that killed three children and one adult on Thursday took place just a few yards from homes in an area known for its multiple learning institutions.
Leah Schwartz, 31, was walking her dog with her husband on Thursday when she heard three loud pops, she said. There was a brief pause and then she said she heard what sounded like three more.
Ms. Schwartz said she lives about a mile from Silver Rail Elementary School, in an area that is home to other campuses including Caldera High School and R.E. Jewell Elementary School. She immediately suspected a shooting had happened at one of them.
“Unfortunately, that’s the first instinct,” she said.
Then, sirens pierced the quiet of the residential neighborhood as emergency vehicles descended on the area.
“That’s when we realized this was really bad,” Ms. Schwartz said.
Sheila Miller, a spokeswoman for the Bend Police Department, said during a news conference that agencies throughout the region came to the scene, where they found the four victims and the shooter dead. Two other people were taken to a hospital, she said.
Ms. Schwartz said that she, her husband and their dog, Adley, immediately retreated indoors when they realized something dangerous was happening. She has lived in the neighborhood about four and a half years, and couldn’t believe the shooting happened so close to home.
“I don’t know if I can come to terms with something so awful,” she said, her voice wavering. “It’s just something that we live with here in America. It’s exhausting.”
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