The 16-year-old who barged into an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, and unleashed a barrage of gunfire that killed a teacher and three children was a former student at Silver Rail elementary, officials confirmed in a Friday press conference.

The heavily armed shooter, identified as Griffin J John II, climbed over a fence and onto the school’s property before shooting through a set of locked doors to enter the building.

The shooter, a former special needs learner, beelined toward a special education classroom left of the entrance doors, firing as many as 15 rounds.

All of the victims from Thursday’s shooting were in that room: five-year-old Rhoam Summer, two other students, aged eight and 11, whom authorities have not identified, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert.

Lambert, from central Oregon, had regarded Silver Rail as a “dream job”, her family said in a statement read by police. “She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.”

The shooting also left a seven-year-old in serious condition, police said, and 54-year-old educator Becky Drury with serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries.

A 36-year-old Silver Rail parent, identified by relatives as Kaylub Giamanco, heard the gunshots as he was driving by and entered the school.

He saw an educator in a scuffle with the shooter, at which point he intervened, shooting and killing the teen.

Police say the teacher threw her phone at the shooter before tackling him, as she fought to disarm him.

Related: Oregon elementary school shooting: what we know so far

“She almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed,” Bend police chief Mike Krantz said.

Authorities recovered 44 more rounds of ammunition in the shooter’s backpack.

Police have not offered a motive, citing the continuing investigation.

Candlelight vigils and memorials have sprung up around Bend, as the city has been thrust into a gruesome, but tragically familiar American story.

Outside the school on Friday, a steady stream of people arrived to deliver flowers in front of the campus.

They left dozens of bouquets, teddy bears, Minnie Mouse stuffed animals and a pumpkin. Most people stopped by for just a moment to pay their respects. Some sat, and parents held their children and cried together.

It was eerily quiet at a time when the campus would normally be teeming with activity, said Joe Camarlinghi, father of a third grader at the school.

Fabiola Caseres, who runs a local preschool and came by to deliver flowers, said the sadness was palpable all around the close-knit city.

“It just feels so heavy,” she said. “Everybody is looking like deer in the headlights. It’s so sad, and you can’t stop thinking about the kids. They’re supposed to come home.”

Thursday’s events mark the most deadly school shooting since the September 2024 mass killing at Apalachee high school in Georgia, where a 14-year-old shooter killed two teachers and two students.

Although a motive in this school shooting remains unclear, the age of the shooter points to a troubling pattern.

Some of the most recent high-profile shootings on and off school campuses have been carried out by teenagers and young adults, many of whom are a part of nihilistic online communities where posters praise, and seek to emulate, prior shooters like those who carried out attacks at Columbine high school, in Christchurch in New Zealand and at Virginia Tech.

In May, two teenagers who met and were radicalized online shot and killed three people at a mosque in San Diego before shooting themselves. In their manifesto, they explicitly named the Apalachee high school shooters as their inspiration.

The city of Bend, home to about 100,000 residents, held a candlelit vigil on Thursday night. Hundreds of people gathered in Bend’s Drake Park as the sun set. Oregon governor Tina Kotek and Bend mayor Melanie Kebler attended the vigil.

“There is power and love in this park tonight,” Kotek said. “On behalf of everyone who lives in Oregon, I am so sorry for what you are experiencing today. No parent, no family, no community should have to have this kind of day.”

All schools in Bend and La Pine, a neighboring city, were closed on Friday.