Local
Rhoam Summer’s family hires lawyers to examine Bend school shooting
The parents of 5-year-old Rhoam Summer have retained three law firms to investigate whether failures in school security or other circumstances could have prevented the Oct. 15 shooting at Silver Rail Elementary. Police say the attack killed four people and injured two before a bystander fatally shot the 16-year-old suspect.
The family of Rhoam Summer, the 5-year-old killed in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, has hired three law firms to investigate whether the attack could have been prevented.
The firms — Dwyer Williams & Cherkoss, Simon Greenstone & Panatier, and Worthington & Caron — said Monday they would examine potential legal claims related to the Oct. 15 shooting, which police say killed four people and injured two. The suspect, a 16-year-old, was fatally shot by a bystander.
Bend attorney Tim Williams said the lawyers would review whether school security and active-shooter procedures were adequate and followed. They also plan to investigate how the teen obtained a Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun and gained access to the school, as well as where the weapon was purchased and marketed.
“Was it foreseeable and thus preventable? That’s what we will find out,” Williams said in a statement. He said the investigation would look for systemic failures, while law enforcement handles the criminal investigation and prosecution-related work.
Police say the teen threw the shotgun over a fence along Brentwood Avenue, climbed over and entered the school grounds at about 12:58 p.m. A driver in a red pickup encountered him on Brentwood Avenue; the teen fired at the truck, and the driver left and called 911, according to police.
Another parent, Kaylub Giamanco, saw the shooting while driving nearby. Police say he went to the school, retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and pursued the teen. The suspect entered through external double doors near the playground after firing into them, bypassing the secure vestibules the school district says are used for visitors.
Police say the teen entered a nearby classroom and shot teacher Megan Lambert, 25, and three children, including Rhoam. During the attack, another teacher threw a cellphone at the shooter and tackled him as Giamanco fired, killing the teen. Officers arrived at 1:02 p.m. Police said the suspect had an estimated 44 rounds remaining on his person or in his backpack.
The family’s lawyers said they are committed to holding responsible parties accountable. The investigation’s findings could raise questions about school safety practices and how a minor obtained and brought a firearm onto school property; no conclusions about responsibility have been announced.
In a written statement, Rhoam’s parents, Kelik and Lillian Summer, remembered their child as energetic, imaginative and eager to make guests feel welcome. They asked people wishing to honor him to make art, especially drawings of sharks, dinosaurs and monsters — creatures Rhoam liked to imagine as needing understanding and friendship.