“A 15-year-old gunman at an Oregon high school had an assault rifle, handgun and several magazines of ammunition hidden in a guitar case and duffel bag when he rode a school bus to the campus,” the AP reports. “The attacker, identified as Jared Michael Padgett, a freshman at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, entered a boys locker room on Tuesday at the gymnasium, where he ‘murdered a fellow student’ [14-year-old Emilio Hoffman] police Chief Scott Anderson said. He also wounded a teacher, who managed to make his way to an office and alert officials . . . The shooter later encountered [armed] officers in a hallway. After a brief exchange of gunfire, he fled into a restroom and was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.” We now know how Padgett got his guns . . .
“The shooter obtained the weapons from his family home,” Anderson said. “The weapons had been secured, but he defeated the security measures.”
As in the Newtown spree killing, a murderous teen obtained weapons from his parents – despite “security measures.” Now there’s a discussion we should be having: why did Padgett’s parents keep firearms in their house IF they knew he was mentally ill? Should parents of troubled children remove firearms from the family home – at least until mental health issues are resolved? As they say, we report, you decided. Meanwhile . . .
Oregon Live, reports that Chief Anderson said two on-site armed school resource officers (SROs) prevented further carnage. “I believe their quick response saved many of our students’ lives . . . At least one of the officers fired shots.” After which Jared Michael Padgett shot himself and ended the incident.