EMILIO HOFFMAN - 14 yo (6/2014)/ Suspect: Jared Michael Padgett (deceased) - Troutdale OR

14-year-old boy shot to death in boys locker room of Reynolds HS

Posted: Jun 10, 2014 10:31 AM CDT
Updated: Jun 10, 2014 9:52 PM CDT
By FOX 12 Staff

TROUTDALE, OR (KPTV) - A gunman carrying a rifle opened fire and killed a student at Reynolds High School on Tuesday, and Troutdale police confirmed the gunman himself is also dead.

Multiple students told FOX 12 they heard at least two gunshots near the main gym around 8 a.m.

The victim was identified by a family spokesman as Emilio Hoffman. Police then confirmed that the 14-year-old freshman was the shooting victim.

Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said he spoke to the boy's parents.

"I can tell you how devastated they are by this news," Anderson said. "They want you to know Emilio was a great kid and loved by all."

Officials said a teacher, who students and neighbors identified as P.E. teacher Todd Rispler, was grazed by a bullet. He was treated at the scene.

"Despite being injured, he made his way to the office and started the school lockdown procedure," Anderson said of Rispler.

The shooter has not been identified by police and his cause of death has not been revealed. Police said Emilio's body was found in the boys locker room, while the shooter's body was found in a different restroom.

Motive unknown

Law enforcement agencies first responded to reports of an active shooter at the school at 8:07 a.m., and when they arrived, they evacuated the school of all students and staff.

The situation was then "stabilized" and police confirmed the shooter had died. Police said two school resource officers and a tactical team "brought this to a conclusion." Despite the all clear, a school lockdown persisted for hours afterward.

There's no word yet on the gunman's motive, and police haven't said whether he is a student at the school, despite deputies tentatively identifying him. Investigators believe he entered the building that house's the school's gymnasium, which is a detached building from the school.

"This is a tragic day, one I hoped that would never, ever be part of my experience," said Superintendent Linda Florence.

Troutdale Mayor Doug Daoust said it has been "a very unsettling day for our city."

"I really want to say that I'm very impressed with how the police handled this whole operation," he said. "My heart goes out to all the families."

Classes canceled

Wednesday was supposed to be the last day of the school year at Reynolds, and graduation is planned for Thursday. Classes were canceled for Wednesday at Reynolds High School.

Florence said the school would be closed down "until further notice," for the police investigation.

Students and staff were told to pick up personal items left outside the school from the evacuation Tuesday night at Reynolds Middle School from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Items left inside the high school during the evacuation were not yet being returned.

Also, no one was allowed to enter the school to retrieve any items left behind Tuesday night.

People with cars parked on the west side of the school were told to go to the Imagination Station at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Those with cars in the eastern parking lot by the gym were advised to go to the Imagination Station at 7 p.m. Deputies said they would escort a few people at a time to reclaim their vehicles.

Counselors are being made available to students at the following locations:

Wood Village Fred Meyer for students and parents
Mt Hood Community College Gymnasium (26000 SE Stark Street) from 1 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Multnomah County's Crisis Help Line at (503) 988-4888.
Administrators said counselors would also be available at all schools in the district on Wednesday.

Reaction to shooting

As news of the shooting spread, public figures started sending out statements expressing their condolences.

Gov. John Kitzhaber sent out a tweet that read, "My thoughts and prayers are with students, staff and the Reynolds High School community during this difficult time."

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales issued a statement on Facebook, saying, "There are no words to fully express our sorrow over the shootings at Reynolds High School. We want the students, the parents and the educators -- in fact, the whole community -- to know that they are in our hearts and prayers today."

Reynolds High School is located at 1698 SW Cherry Park Road in Troutdale, which is a suburb of Portland.

Troutdale police are asking anyone with photos taken during the shooting or additional information that might assist in the investigation to call 503-250-7943 or email crimereports@troutdaleoregon.gov.

TIP LINE: 503-250-7943

http://www.kptv.com/story/25739525/active-shooter-situation-at-reynolds-high-school

Reynolds High gunman identified as Jared Michael Padgett

Associated Press
11:37 a.m. PDT June 11, 2014

Update 11:25 a.m.: Police say a 15-year-old gunman at an Oregon high school had an assault rifle, handgun and several magazines of ammunition during attack.

Police also said Wednesday that an autopsy determined that suspect Jared Michael Padgett died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the Tuesday attack.

They say no link has been found between the shooter and the student who was killed. No motive was released.

Police say the shooting occurred in a gym detached from the main school building, with 14-year-old Emilio Hoffman killed in the boys' locker room.

The weapons and ammunition was concealed in a guitar case and duffel bag when the shooter arrived at the campus.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2014/06/10/troutdale-reynolds-high-school-shots-fired/10278419/

Police: High school shooter was armed for mass killings

Marisol Bello, USA Today
10:49 p.m. EDT June 11, 2014

ared Michael Padgett arrived at his Oregon high school on the school bus, just like any other day. But no one knew as they saw the freshman toting his guitar case and a duffel bag that he was armed for a bloodbath.

Inside the case and bag was an AR 15-type rifle, a semi-automatic handgun, nine loaded magazines capable of carrying hundreds of rounds and a large knife. He wore a vest used to carry bullets and other items and a sporting helmet in a camouflage design.

"He entered the school through the boys locker room," Troutdale chief of police Scott Anderson said Wednesday during a press conference. The chief revealed more details about the shooting Tuesday at Reynolds High School in the Portland suburb of Troutdale that left a student and the gunman dead and injured a teacher.

Anderson said Jared arrived about 8 a.m. PT at the start of the school day and stalked the locker room for some time before he fatally shot Emilio Hoffman, 14, another freshman and rising soccer player.

Anderson said Jared, 15, and Emilio did not know each other, leaving police unsure whether the shooter was targeting someone or had launched a random attack.

"He always talked about guns and sometimes got mad," student Kaylah Ensign said, adding that he could also be kind and respectful. "He helped kids, and I never would have thought he would do that."

Kaylah also knew Hoffman, calling him her best friend, and said that Jared and Emilio barely knew each other.

Physical education teacher Todd Rispler, a former track coach and football star at the school, heard a commotion and confronted Jared, who shot him once in the hip. Rispler dragged himself to the main office where he notified the administration and initiated lockdown procedures, Anderson said.

Jared ran off down the main hallway of the school. Almost immediately, the teen saw officers begin to stream in to the school as he walked the hallway and exchanged gunfire with the officers. He ran into a school restroom where he shot himself in a bathroom stall, Anderson said.

The police chief did not provide details about Jared and he would not release a motive for the shooting. "It's too early" for that, he said.

Earl Milliron, a friend of the Padgett family, said Jared planned a career in the military and was devoted to his Mormon faith after being ordained as a deacon at age 12.

"I never suspected that he had serious problems, I refuse in my mind to believe that Jared Michael who did the shooting is the same Jared Michael I knew," said Milliron, 86, who has known the Padgett family for more than 25 years and belongs to the same church ward.

Jared's oldest brother had served in the military in Afghanistan and the teen was planning the same path, Milliron said. Jared was in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program and was proud to wear his uniform to school on Fridays.

"I saw Jared at church every Sunday," he said. "He was very quiet, I never saw him angry, he was extremely even tempered, he was always at the best possible behavior."

Jared's mother and father were no longer together, and the couple had six children, Milliron said.

He lived with his father and other siblings, said neighbor Anthony Williams, who lives across the street from the Padgetts.

"They were a pretty close family," Williams said. "We'd always see them together on Sunday mornings. We'd see them take off for church, and later on in the day they'd come back but they'd all pile in there together and take off."

Members of his church said he was quiet but full of love.

Police chief Scott Anderson identifies the Reynolds High School gunman as freshman Jared Michael Padgett at a news conference on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in Troutdale, Ore.(Photo: Gosia Wozniacka, AP)

Jared got the guns, ammunition and knife from his home. Anderson said the weapons were all secured, but the teen found a way around the security. Anderson did not detail how.

"I cannot emphasize enough the role that Mr. Rispler and the responding officers played in saving many, many lives yesterday," Anderson said. "Given the weapons and amount of ammunition that the shooter was carrying, the early notification and the initial law enforcement response were critical."

Reynolds is the state's second-largest high school with 2,800 students.

The shooting was the 74th on a U.S. campus since the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., according to the American Federation of Teachers, the union representing staff at Reynolds High.

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/11/oregon-school-shooting/10356211/