Police can’t connect Oregon shooter Jared Padgett to victim Emilio Hoffman
Police are still struggling to piece together the motive behind the recent attack an Oregon student which left two students dead, one being the shooter, and a teacher injured.
Jared Michael Padgett, 15, arrived to Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Ore., on Tuesday morning on the school bus like every other morning. Police say Padgett then went to the locker room and shot and killed Emilio Hoffman, 14, also freshman at the school.
Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said during a briefing with reporters that they have not connected the two boys or can explain the motive behind Padgett’s attack. The teen fired at teacher Todd Rispler, Anderson said. Rispler was “grazed on his hip” and went to the school’s office so that the school could begin a lockdown.
Padgett worked his way through the school, but when he discovered the police on campus, he went into a bathroom and committed suicide. He was “carrying an AR-15 rifle, a semiautomatic handgun, a large knife and nine loaded magazines capable of holding hundreds of bullets,” Anderson said.
In addition, he was wearing a vest used to carry ammunition and other items, as well as a helmet with a camouflage design.
“Given the weapons and the amount of ammunition the shooter was carrying, the early notification and law enforcement response was critical,” Anderson said.
“I cannot emphasize enough the role of Mr. Risler and responding officers played in saving many, many lives yesterday,” Anderson said.
Police say the guns found on Padgett were taken from his family’s home.
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