Becky Drury, a 54-year-old teacher injured in last week’s shooting at an Oregon elementary school, has released a statement describing the moments before she was shot, saying the gunman attacked her before she had “any chance to act.”
In the statement issued Wednesday, Drury said she left her classroom after hearing something outside at Silver Rail Elementary School and ran to see what was happening. She then encountered the shooter.
“I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there,” Drury wrote. “Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to the ground.”
Drury said the gunfire left her left hand nearly severed and caused severe injuries to her other arm. “I could not get up, defend myself, or protect anyone else,” she wrote. “So, 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 sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the Oct. 15 attack, which killed three children—ages 5, 8 and 11—and a 25-year-old teacher. A fourth child, 7, was also seriously injured.
Police identified the suspect as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former student at the school. Investigators said he fired through the school’s locked doors before entering a special needs classroom and opening fire.
According to police, another teacher tackled the gunman. He was then fatally shot by 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, an armed bystander who followed him into the building.
Drury said she decided to speak publicly because “I want to make sure the events of that day and my actions in particular are reported accurately.”
“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,” she wrote.
She also expressed gratitude to those who have supported her since the shooting. “What happened in that classroom was unimaginable, and like so many in this community, my heart is broken for everyone affected by this tragedy,” Drury said.
