District identifies teacher who confronted Bend school gunman

Bend-La Pine Schools identified Cassidy Schutz as the Silver Rail Elementary School learning specialist who confronted the gunman during the October 15 shooting in Bend, Oregon. Her identity was disclosed with her first public statement about the attack, which killed three children and teacher Megan Lambert and wounded another teacher and a student. Police Chief Mike Krantz said Schutz threw her cellphone at the gunman and struggled with him for control of his shotgun. He had described her actions at a briefing the day after the shooting but had not identified her by name. Krantz said her intervention almost certainly helped prevent further bloodshed, an assessment of what might otherwise have happened. Schutz said the shooting was a heartbreaking tragedy and that she wished there had been more time. She said she would carry the pain of the loss with her and expressed concern for those killed, their families, the wounded and others who were at the school. In her statement, released through the district, Schutz asked for time, space and privacy as she and the school community heal. She said she would make no further public statements at that time. The shooting occurred in a...