“We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy,” Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said in a statement.
“No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing.”
Local law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooter at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, at 12:59 local time, Bend Police Department spokeswoman Sheila Miller told reporters.
The first call indicated that an unknown suspect had shot into a car, she said. Photos released from the scene show a red truck with bullet holes.
Minutes later, the local county dispatch received a flood of 911 calls and law enforcement were sent to the scene.
The suspected shooter was shot dead at around 13:02pm, Miller said.
While police said the shooter was a local 16-year-old boy, they declined to add further details pending the ongoing investigation.