Gunman found dead after student killed at Oregon school

A teenage gunman armed with a rifle walked into an Oregon high school gym and shot a student to death yesterday before he was found dead in a bathroom stall, in the third outbreak of gun violence to shake a US high school or college campus in less than three weeks.

Reynolds High School in the middle-class Portland suburb of Troutdale was immediately locked down, then evacuated room by room, as law enforcement officials converged on the campus of 2,800 students, which had been set for its last day of classes today before the summer break.

“A gunman entered the high school this morning, shot one student. Unfortunately, that student has died,” Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson told a news conference. “The gunman was located and the gunman is also deceased.”

Authorities identified the victim as 14-year-old high school freshman Emilio Hoffman.

President Barack Obama expressed deep frustration last night at the inability of Washington lawmakers to tighten gun control measures in the wake of US shootings.

"The country has to do some soul-searching about this. This is becoming the norm and we take it for granted in ways that, as a parent, are terrifying to me," Mr Obama said in reply to a question at a White House online event.

Oregon lawmakers have been at a legislative impasse for about two years over stricter gun control proposals.

At the school, gym teacher and track coach Todd Rispler was grazed by a bullet but made his way to the school's office to initiate the lockdown, possibly saving lives, Mr Anderson said.

Authorities have not publicly named the gunman nor said how he died, but USA Today cited a police spokesman as saying the shooter was a teenager who shot himself to death in a bathroom stall following the attack.

The violence in northern Oregon was the latest in a string of fatal shootings in US public places since May, including one at a Christian college in neighbouring Washington state last week in which one student died.

Television footage at the Oregon school showed police officers in helmets and tactical gear stepping from armoured vehicles and running near the school’s perimeter with rifles. Students streamed out of the school with hands raised.

A few miles from the school, students bused from the campus were being reunited with anxious parents in the parking lot of a shopping centre.

"I'm glad it wasn't worse," said Rachelle Rueschenberg, a mother clutching her ninth-grade daughter, Maddy.

Two girls from the high school, sisters Kadejah and Deondra Nixon, told Reuters after being reunited with their parents that police were asking students whether anyone had ridden a bus to school with a student carrying a guitar case.

Kadejah Nixon said she did not hear gunfire because the shooting was in a different wing of the building, but recounted an announcement over the public address system that urged students to go to the nearest classroom and close the doors.

“This is not a drill, this is serious, get into a classroom,” she quoted the announcement as saying.

Officers used a robotic camera to investigate in the wake of the shooting and discovered the suspect was dead, and that he had likely killed himself, Troutdale police spokesman Sgt Carey Kaer said.

Emilio Hoffman, who was “loved by all”, Mr Anderson said. He said Emilio was found in the boys’ locker room.

A girl who used to be the boy's girlfriend said he was "a good kid" and a "down-to-earth guy". "He was very caring, he loved to joke around," said Savannah Venegas (16).

Emilio lived with his mother and had an older brother and two younger sisters, both in elementary school, Ms Venegas said.

Mr Anderson said he spoke with the boy’s family, saying they had a difficult road ahead and sought privacy.

Emilio did not have enemies and “didn’t stir up trouble,” Ms Venegas said.

“They wouldn’t have just picked him,” she said. “It had to be, just, random.”

Authorities have identified the gunman, but his name is being withheld until his family is notified, Mr Anderson said.

Agencies