Police: Oregon teen kills pupil, himself

Freshman Hailee Siebert, 15, is hugged by her mother after students arrived at a shopping-center parking lot Tuesday in Wood Village, Ore., after a shooting at Reynolds High School in nearby Troutdale. A gunman killed a student at the high school, east of Portland. The gunman is also dead,

Freshman Hailee Siebert, 15, is hugged by her mother after students arrived at a shopping-center parking lot Tuesday in Wood Village, Ore., after a shooting at Reynolds High School in nearby Troutdale. A gunman killed a student at the high school, east of Portland. The gunman is also dead,

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

TROUTDALE, Ore. -- A teenager armed with a rifle killed a student at an Oregon high school Tuesday and injured a teacher before he likely killed himself, authorities said.

After the shooting stopped, police spotted the suspect slumped on a toilet in a bathroom but couldn't see what he was doing. Officers used a robot with a camera to investigate and discovered that the suspect was dead and that he likely had killed himself, said Troutdale police spokesman Sgt. Carey Kaer.

Authorities tentatively identified the gunman Tuesday, but his name was being withheld until his family could be notified, Police Chief Scott Anderson said.

The victim was identified as freshman Emilio Hoffman, who was "loved by all," Anderson said. Hoffman was found in the boys' locker room, he said.

The teacher's injuries weren't life-threatening, and he was treated at the scene. He was identified as Todd Rispler, a 50-year-old physical education instructor and former track coach and quarterback at the school.

The first reports of gunshots came at 8 a.m. on the next-to-last-day of classes. Police initially seemed uncertain about whether there was a live shooter in the school.

A lockdown was ordered, and students were told to go quietly to their classrooms.

Freshman Morgan Rose, 15, said she hunkered down in a locker room with another student and two teachers.

"It was scary in the moment. Now knowing everything's OK, I'm better," she said.

Students eventually were led from the school with their hands up or on their heads. Parents and students were reunited in a supermarket parking lot.

Mandy Johnson said her daughter called from a friend's phone during the lockdown.

"I thank God that she's safe," said Johnson, who has three younger children. "I don't want to send my kids to school anymore."

Anderson said two on-campus police officers were the first to respond to reports of a shooting. The officers and a tactical team sent to the school "brought this to a conclusion," Anderson said, without elaborating.

During the evacuation of the school, authorities found another student with a gun, and he was taken into custody. That weapon and arrest were not related to the shooting, Anderson said.

The chief also said he was sorry for the family of the slain student.

"Today is a very tragic day for the city of Troutdale," Anderson said.

Gov. John Kitzhaber added in a statement: "Oregon hurts as we try to make sense of a senseless act of violence."

The Reynolds School District also issued a statement mourning the loss of one of its students.

Reynolds is the second-largest high school in Oregon, with about 2,800 students. The school is about 15 miles from Portland, and its students are from several communities.

The Oregon shooting happened less than a week after a gunman opened fire on a college campus in neighboring Washington, killing a 19-year-old man and wounding two others. It follows a string of mass shootings, including one Sunday in Nevada that left two Las Vegas police officers and a civilian dead.

The Tuesday shooting was the first fatal public school shooting in Oregon since May 1998, when 15-year-old Kip Kinkel killed two students and wounded 25 others at Thurston High School in Springfield near Eugene. He killed his parents before the attack and is serving a 111-year prison sentence.

Information for this article was contributed by Gosia Wozniacka, Steven DuBois and Alina Hartounian of The Associated Press.

A Section on 06/11/2014