BEND, Ore. (AP) — A special education teacher and student injured in a deadly shooting at Oregon elementary school remained hospitalized on Saturday. But friends said their survival was a beacon of hope in a grieving community.
The youngest survivor of the shooting, Saylor Graham, 7, is a fiery, dynamic fighter with a gentle nature whose story inspired other children, said Matt Sampson, executive director of the Sparrow Clubs, of which she was a member. She suffers from a genetic disorder, usually uses a wheelchair and doesn’t speak, but “she doesn’t even need words to communicate with people,” he said.
“She’s just an incredible spirit that immediately draws people to her and you feel inspired by Saylor when you meet her,” Sampson said. “And she always wears those iconic glasses, whether they’re pink or red. She’s so cute.”
Teacher Becky Drury, 54, is recovering in a Bend hospital with injuries to her arm and hand but hopes to return home soon, said Zack Hall, a family friend who is her family’s spokesman.
Three children – aged 5, 8 and 11 – and a teacher were killed Silver Rail Elementary School school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday when a former student of that school, Griffin J. John II, 16, entered a special needs classroom and started shooting with a shotgun.
A teacher was struggling with John to retrieve the gun when the father of two students walked in and shot him. They are credited with stopping the rampage and save the lives of many people.
As police continued to investigate John’s motives, distraught parents, teachers and others gathered outside the school Saturday to lay flowers, pray and cry.
Savannah Patton, a mother who has a 1st and 4th grader at the school, sat on the grass Saturday in front of a memorial of flowers, stuffed animals and balloons, and wiped tears from her eyes.
She told an Associated Press reporter that the deceased teacher, Megan Lambert, 25, had replaced her daughter last year.
Patton said she struggled to explain what happened to her daughter, who asked, “Mom, why would someone want to take a gun and kill us at school?” Patton said it was a question she didn’t know how to answer.
Physical difficulties will not prevent him from “living with joy”
For several years, Saylor worked with students at Bend High School through the Sparrow Clubs, a volunteer group whose mission is to empower “kids to help kids in medical need” through kindness and community service, according to their website.
In a video on the Sparrow Clubs page, Saylor introduces herself, saying she loves watching Bluey and being around other kids, especially her brother. She said that although she faced physical and cognitive challenges, she could communicate with her eyes and a computer tablet.
“I prove every day that I am a fighter who doesn’t give up,” she wrote in the video. “Living with the challenges of CASK is full of unknowns, which can be very difficult and scary for my whole family,” she said. “But that doesn’t stop me from smiling, laughing and living with joy!
Some of the high school students who worked with Saylor said helping him gave them hope that there was still humanity in this world.
After the shooting, she was taken to a Portland hospital. A Go-Fund-Me for his family raised nearly $400,000.
“We will not let his name be forgotten”
Devon Johnson visited the memorial in front of the school Saturday morning. Her husband teaches at Bend High School and she coaches volleyball at High Desert Middle School. They are therefore close to many members of the primary school staff.
“It’s just hard to accept,” she said. “I’m very happy to see that Bend is stepping up and just surrounding this community, but it’s going to take a long time to get out of this.”
Heidi Wood, director of the Central Oregon Volleyball Club where Lambert coached, said in a social media post that she was “an amazing coach,” “an amazing teacher” and “an amazing person who would do anything” for her students.
“To the shooter, she would have given you the shirt she was wearing,” Wood said. “But you didn’t give him a chance.”
Wood said Lambert would not take his volleyball coaching salary during his first year so the money could be used for scholarships for players who couldn’t afford to play instead.
“It was her, and it’s her,” Wood said. “We will perpetuate his love, his passion and we will not let his name be forgotten.”
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Bellisle reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Haven Daley contributed to this report.
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