BEND, Ore. (AP) — The youngest child killed in a shooting at an Oregon school was a fast runner and a fearless climber who also loved reading and his stuffed animals, his aunt said Friday.
Rhoam Summer, 5, was one of three children killed along with a teacher in the shooting Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, a mountain-ringed city of about 100,000 in central Oregon. The other two children killed were ages 8 and 11, and a fourth student and another teacher were wounded, police have said.
“He never met a stuffie that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for,” said Swan Sheridan, whose sister is Summer’s mother.
Sheridan said Summer liked for all of his sea creature stuffed animals to be in his favorite color: rainbow.
“He had a great fondness for sharks and dinosaurs and creatures that were in his words, ‘misunderstood,’” she said.
Sheridan said her nephew would climb and jump off anything and was an “incredibly fast” runner, even from a young age. “He was a little ball of energy from the moment he was born,” she said.
“He was a very, very happy child,” she said.
Teacher Meghan Lambert, 25, was killed, said police Chief Mike Krantz at a Friday afternoon news conference. Police confirmed Summer was one of those killed but won’t release names of the other children who died at the request of families.
Lambert had her “dream job,” her family said in statement read at the news conference. Lambert grew up in Bend, graduated from Boise State in 2023, had a passion for sports, especially volleyball, and was a local coach, relatives said.
They described her as funny and opinionated and said she “lit up the room.”
“Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart,” her family said in the statement. “She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.”
Police said 16-year-old Griffin J. John II got into the school by shooting through locked doors. Authorities said John had been a special needs student at the school and attacked a classroom with special needs students.
Krantz said a parent saw John shooting outside the school, followed him inside and shot him several times.
The parent was Kaylub Giamanco, said his mother, Kenda Freeman, in a statement read Friday to reporters.
Police found John dead in the school minutes after the first calls for help, Krantz said.
Memorials with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals popped up around the school, and drew community members Friday, including Brooke Olsen. She said she was feeling grateful that her daughter — a kindergartner — was safe while also trying to “grieve and process and recover.”
“This is an extremely painful day of grief for everybody in Bend, especially Silver Rail families,” Olsen said.
A wounded teacher was identified by family as Becky Drury. Her mother-in-law, Yvonne Drury, said on Facebook that she had injuries to her left arm and right hand and was recovering from surgery. Her husband, Will Drury, said in a statement that they’re focusing on her recovery at an “unimaginably difficult time.”
Blake Brinker said he came to a memorial at the school on Friday to pray.
“Life is such a delicate thing and I don’t think anything brings that message across more than the loss of young life,” he said
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Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas. Associated Press journalists Ed White in Detroit and Philip Marcelo in New York contributed to this report.
By JAMIE STENGLE and HAVEN DALEY
Associated Press
