The educator hailed as a hero for throwing a cellphone at a teenage gunman during a deadly attack on a Bend, Oregon, elementary school said Friday that “the pain of this loss I will carry with me forever.”
Cassidy Schutz was identified by the school district Friday as the staff member who engaged with the shooter during the attack at Silver Rail Elementary School, which left four people dead.
“There are no words to describe the depth of sadness I am feeling following the events of October 15th. This is not a story. This is a horrific and heartbreaking tragedy, and it is our real lives,” Schutz said in a statement released by Bend-La Pine Schools.
Schutz, a certified learning specialist at the school, was called heroic after she threw her phone at 16-year-old gunman and wrestled him over the shotgun.
An armed community member passing by saw the gunman and followed him into the school, fatally shooting him as he was in the physical confrontation, police have said.
“It all happened so fast, and I wish with everything in me that we had more time,” Schutz said in the statement. “The pain of this loss I will carry with me forever. There are no words for this unimaginable reality we are facing.”
Three boys, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed. Another child and a teacher were wounded. Authorities have publicly identified two of the victims killed as Rhoam Summer, 5, and Megan Lambert, 25.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz has said that the educator’s action confronting the gunman “almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.”
The shooting happened in a special needs classroom at the school, officials have said.
“My thoughts are with those who were lost, their families, those who were hurt, and those who were there that day. My heart is with you,” Schutz said.
The shooting remains under investigation and a motive, if one is known, has not been disclosed by officials.
Schutz asked for privacy in Friday’s statement.
