Bend Shooting Victim's Parents Hire Lawyers to Ask If It Was Preventable
The parents of a 5-year-old boy killed in last week's school shooting in Bend, Oregon, have hired a team of attorneys to find out one painful question: could the tragedy have been prevented?
Kelik and Lillian Summer lost their son, a kindergartner, when a gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday, Oct. 15. Their legal team announced it will investigate the school's safety plans and how the teenage shooter got his gun, The Associated Press reported.
What Happened at Silver Rail Elementary
Police said the 16-year-old gunman got into the school by shooting through locked doors. He was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed in the Oregon elementary school shooting. Another student and a second teacher were wounded. The gunman died after a parent of two Silver Rail students confronted him inside the school, according to reports.
The shooter was not enrolled in the Bend-La Pine school district at the time, but he had once attended the school as a special needs student, police said.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, the Summers' son is the youngest person ever killed in a U.S. school shooting, The Source Weekly reported.
"Was It Foreseeable and Thus Preventable?"
Three law firms are now representing the family. Bend personal injury attorney Tim Williams, who is co-lead counsel, said the team will look into "any systemic failures."
"Was it foreseeable and thus preventable?" Williams said. That is the question the team plans to answer.
The independent investigation will examine whether the school's security and active shooter plans were adequate and followed, whether there were any warning signs from the shooter or others, and how an underage shooter got access to both the weapon and the school. The team also wants to know where the gun was first purchased and how it was marketed.
Williams told KTVZ that the goal is not a quick lawsuit or money. "We're not sure if anyone or any entity is liable," he said, adding that no lawsuit has been filed. Any decision about next steps will be up to the family.
The family first brought on the attorneys to help handle the flood of media requests, which Williams said "started at 5 a.m. the morning following the shooting."
Questions About the Gun
A law enforcement official told the AP that the shotgun was bought by the shooter's mother. Under Oregon law, a minor can have a shotgun if a parent provides it, or if someone else does with a parent's permission.
"We don't know whether or not the dealer was aware that the firearm was being bought for a minor," Williams said. He added that it is also unclear whether the mother was legally allowed to own a firearm.
The mother told reporters outside her apartment that she would have prevented the shooting if she could have. So far, no one has been charged with breaking the law in connection with the gun purchase, though Williams told KTVZ a criminal case involving the mother is possible.
What the School District Says
Superintendent Steven Cook said the district has "invested heavily" in security cameras, door locks and fencing. "We practice lockdowns with students and staff twice a year at every school," he said, adding that the district will review what more needs to be done.
Williams said the district should feel free to make changes now. "They can make whatever changes they want to, and we encourage them to do so," he said.
Classes and activities across the district were canceled Monday and Tuesday, and there is no plan yet for when Silver Rail will reopen.
Questions about school accountability after shootings have reached the courtroom before. In Virginia, teacher Abby Zwerner testified in a civil trial against a former assistant principal accused of ignoring warnings before a 6-year-old student shot her.
The Summers remembered their son as strong and kind, with a love for rainbows, unicorns, sharks and dinosaurs. He had wanted to visit the pumpkin patch and dress up as a bunny for Halloween.
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