An Oregon elementary school teacher who nearly lost her hand in a mass shooting has described how she played dead in a desperate attempt to avoid being shot again by the teenage attacker.
Becky Drury, 54, sustained catastrophic injuries when a 16-year-old former student opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, during last week’s deadly rampage. Three children and another teacher were killed.
In her first public account of the October 15 massacre, Drury recounted the terrifying moment she was left on the classroom floor, unable to move or protect herself after being shot from close range.
The gunfire almost severed her left hand, and her opposite arm also suffered severe wounds.
With the gunman still in the area, the injured teacher chose to remain perfectly still, hoping he would assume she was already dead.
‘I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope he would not shoot me again,’ Drury said in an emotional statement released Wednesday.
Her testimony provides a chilling account of the violence inside the Oregon elementary school, where four people died and two others, including Drury, were seriously injured.
Authorities said the teenage gunman, identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, fired through the school’s locked entrance doors before entering the building.
Becky Drury, 54, suffered serious injuries when a teenage gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon
Silver Lake Elementary in Bend is pictured Friday afternoon after Thursday’s shooting killed three students and a teacher
Police said the former student then entered a special-needs classroom and began firing.
Drury said she heard a commotion outside her classroom and went to see what was happening, not realizing she was about to encounter the attacker.
‘I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there,’ she wrote.
‘Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to the ground.’
The assault left her gravely injured before she had even had a chance to respond.
As she lay wounded on the floor, Drury began to understand the full extent of her injuries.
‘Lying on the floor, I saw that my left hand was almost completely severed from the gunshot, and my other arm was also severely injured,’ she recalled.
‘I could not get up, defend myself, or protect anyone else.’
Drury said she was shot at close range before she had a chance to react, leaving her left hand almost completely severed
Unable to move or fight back, Drury pretended to be dead in the desperate hope that the gunman would not shoot her again
Unable to escape and fearing another bullet could kill her, Drury decided her best chance of survival was to convince the gunman she was no longer alive.
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She remained on the floor, pretending to be dead as the attack unfolded around her.
The teacher survived the ordeal, although the injuries she sustained were severe.
Doctors have described her condition as serious but not life-threatening.
Drury’s statement comes amid conflicting accounts of what happened inside the school and the actions taken by those caught in the violence.
The wounded teacher said she felt compelled to speak out because she wanted to correct what she described as inaccurate reporting about her conduct during the shooting.
‘I want to make sure the events of that day and my actions in particular are reported accurately,’ she explained.
She emphasized that the speed of the attack had left her with no opportunity to intervene before she was wounded.
‘I know there has been contradictory reporting about my actions that day, but the truth is I was shot before I had any chance to act,’ Drury wrote.
People take part in a vigil for victims of the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting, the day after a shooting on October 16
Three students – ages five, eight and 11 – and one teacher were killed by the former student. The five-year-old was identified by his father as Rhoam Summer. The teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25
It was school picture day at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday when the massacre broke out
Her account makes clear that she was incapacitated almost immediately after encountering the gunman, leaving her unable to protect herself or anyone else.
She also paid tribute to the families and wider school community whose lives have been shattered by the killings.
‘What happened in that classroom was unimaginable, and like so many in this community, my heart is broken for everyone affected by this tragedy,’ she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for her medical bills.
The massacre claimed the lives of three young children, ages five, eight and eleven, along with a 25-year-old teacher. A seven-year-old student was also seriously injured in the shooting.
The identities of the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths have left the Bend community struggling to comprehend the scale of the tragedy.
The gunman, who had previously attended Silver Rail Elementary, was eventually confronted as the attack unfolded.
An armed bystander, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, followed the shooter into the school and subsequently shot him dead, bringing the rampage to an end.
Investigators have identified John as the person responsible for the attack, although authorities have not established a motive in the information released publicly.
