Police Identify Reynolds High School Shooter As Freshman Student

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The lone gunman in a shooting at a Troutdale high school has been identified as freshman Jared Michael Padgett.

Padget, 15, attended Reynolds High School, Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said at a morning press conference. He went to the school on a bus with a guitar case and a duffel bag. Police say that Padgett had nine magazines of ammunition and used an AR-15 type rifle. He also had a semi-automatic handgun and a large knife that were not used.

Police say Padgett took weapons from his family’s home — they were secured, but he was able to bypass those measures.

Padget entered Reynolds High School at approximately 8 a.m. and started shooting. Witnesses said they heard gunshots near the school’s gym.

Physical education teacher Todd Rispler found Padgett in the boys locker room was shot once as he was trying to leave. His hip was grazed by a bullet but he was able to make it to the front office where he alerted the school to go into lockdown. Rispler was later treated at the scene.

“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.”

Police identified the two fatalities as the gunman and freshman Emilio Hoffman. Hoffman, 14, was found dead in the boys locker room attached to the gym. The suspect was found in a separate school restroom. Padgett likely killed himself, Troutdale police spokesman Sgt. Carey Kaer said Tuesday.

Reynolds High is the second largest high school in the state with 2,700 students. However, seniors were not on campus as the time of the shooting because they had finished classes last week.

Pro-gun safety advocacy group Everytown reports that this is the 74th incident of gunfire on at an American school since the December 2012 mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

Vigils were held last night for Hoffman and for the grieving community. Crisis counselors are at Mount Hood Community College today until 7 p.m.

Reynolds School District Superintendent Linda Florence said Reynolds High School will be closed until further notice. Other Reynolds district schools are open.

“This was tragic event,” Florence said at a Tuesday press conference. “It feels so personal.”

Today would have been the last day of school for Reynolds students before summer break.

This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

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