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Today's Brief: Bend, Starshield, and Texas

The Homebrew · · Posted · AI-drafted daily brief, synthesized from Left, Center, and Right coverage. Facts may be inaccurate — verify with the cited sources below.

A 16-year-old gunman killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday before an armed bystander shot him dead inside the building, police said, according to the Guardian, ABC News, BBC News and Fox News. In Washington, a bipartisan group of senators asked the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate this week's disruptions to the Starlink and Starshield services Ukraine relies on, while Ukrainian officials said speeds were improving but not fully back. President Donald Trump blamed Sen. John Cornyn and strategist Karl Rove in advance for any Ken Paxton loss in the tight Texas Senate race. Iran's army said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen if the United States leaves the region, and federal investigators are tracking letters with suspicious substances mailed to congressional and election offices.

Bend, Oregon: three children and a teacher killed at an elementary school. A 16-year-old shooter forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday afternoon by shooting at locked doors and killed three children, aged 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said, according to ABC News, BBC News and Fox News. A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to the hospital with critical injuries, police said. At a Friday briefing, Krantz said the 7-year-old was in serious but stable condition and the teacher had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, NBC News reported.

The first call came at 12:59 p.m. from a driver who reported being shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun, Krantz said, according to ABC and Fox. Dispatchers then received multiple 911 calls that a shooter had entered the school; the school was told to lock down at 1:01 p.m., Fox reported, and the first officers arrived at 1:02 p.m., according to a police news release and Fox. Moments after officers arrived, an officer reported that a community member who had seen the teen enter the school had pursued him and shot him, Krantz said, according to ABC and Fox. Officers found five people dead at the scene, including the shooter, Fox reported.

Chief Krantz said the shooter was a 16-year-old former Silver Rail student, CBS News reported; he was not currently enrolled in Bend-La Pine Schools, NBC reported. Krantz said a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun was found near him, NBC and CBS reported. He fired as many as 15 rounds, Krantz said, according to NBC and CBS, and had 44 rounds of ammunition left, according to NBC. The shotgun was purchased by his mother, CBS News reported, citing sources. All of the victims were shot in one special-needs classroom, officials said, according to NBC. A teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the shooter, tackled him and fought to take the gun, Krantz said, according to NBC; he called it "heroic action" and said she was not injured. The bystander's family said in a statement Friday that he is a Bend resident with two daughters at Silver Rail, CBS reported; Krantz described him as a 36-year-old man whose children attend the school, NBC and CBS reported. His brother told NBC he has a concealed-weapon permit, and federal law enforcement sources told Fox the bystander had a concealed carry permit.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the community member who "heroically intervened to stop further loss of life," ABC and Fox reported, and told him, "Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden," Fox, the BBC and the Guardian reported. The FBI is assisting local authorities, the Guardian and Fox reported. All Bend-La Pine schools were closed Friday, and hundreds gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil in Drake Park, the Guardian and BBC reported. "Please hold your children, hold your loved ones tight tonight," Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said, according to the Guardian. The Guardian noted that some vigil attendees called for tougher gun laws in Oregon, which it described as already among the nation's tightest; Fox noted that every Bend police officer completed a full day of active-threat training in August.

Starshield: senators want an investigation as speeds come back slowly. A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the Defense Department's inspector general expressing "grave concern" about reported restrictions on Starlink service in Ukraine between Oct. 12 and 14, the BBC reported. The letter, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., was also signed by Republicans Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Cornyn and Democrats Dick Durbin, Jack Reed, Chris Coons and Richard Blumenthal, according to the BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The senators asked whether any U.S. officials "directed, authorized, approved, or had advance knowledge of changes to intelligence-sharing arrangements, warning capabilities, or Starlink and Starshield services affecting Ukraine," RFE/RL reported. They also said they were "particularly alarmed by incidents in which U.S. diplomatic, military, and security personnel were unable to reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids," the BBC reported. The White House and Pentagon had not responded to the suggestion that the U.S. might have had a role, the BBC said.

Who ordered the limits is still disputed. Elon Musk wrote on X that "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government" and that limits are decided by the U.S. military "and ultimately" the president, the BBC and RFE/RL reported. A senior U.S. official told the New York Post that Trump made no request to limit Ukraine's Starshield access, and another source said Musk may have been inaccurate; the Post concluded it remains unclear who caused the disruption. Denys Sienik, a top diplomat at Ukraine's embassy in Washington, told the Post that "Starshield speeds have been improved, at the moment," and that Kyiv hoped service would return to its previous level. On Friday, Zelenskyy said Starlink speeds were not completely restored and Ukraine was struggling with air defense, according to the Guardian's Europe live blog.

The dispute sits inside a wider rift. Trump called Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries a "disgrace" and described Zelenskyy as "more difficult to deal with than Putin," the Guardian's U.S. politics live blog reported. RFE/RL reported that Trump told Newsmax that Zelenskyy "is not a good guy for us to deal with" and that, in RFE/RL's account, peace would only be possible if Zelenskyy left office. At an EU summit in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia had not respected Trump's proposed energy ceasefire "for a single minute" and that EU sanctions would stay until Russia stops the war, RFE/RL reported. Asked by Sky News whether he was being made a scapegoat for Trump's domestic problems before the midterms, Zelenskyy paused for 15 seconds, smiled and said, "This is my answer," the Guardian reported.

Texas: Trump pre-assigns blame for a Paxton loss. Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday that if Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton loses to Democrat James Talarico, it will be the fault of Sen. John Cornyn and Karl Rove, CNBC, the Guardian and Texas Scorecard reported. "If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career," Trump wrote, according to CNBC and the Guardian. He said the two were "sadly, and very stupidly" making it hard for Paxton and were "hurting Texas," the Guardian reported, and he urged Cornyn's primary supporters to switch to Paxton, Texas Scorecard reported. Cornyn lost the Republican primary to Paxton after Trump endorsed Paxton, CNBC said. Cornyn's office and Rove did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNBC or Texas Scorecard.

Most recent polls show Talarico with a lead in the low-to-mid single digits, CNBC reported; the Guardian described it as a slight lead. Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988, CNBC said. Republican spending in the race has topped $370 million, outpacing Democratic spending by nearly $235 million, according to AdImpact data cited by CNBC, which called it the most expensive race of the cycle.

Hormuz: Iran sets terms as ships keep getting hit. The Strait of Hormuz will reopen if the United States leaves the Middle East, Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia wrote on X on Friday, adding, "If it does not leave, we will expel it," CBS News reported. Greek maritime risk firm Marisks warned Thursday that ships continue to face "indiscriminate attacks" even when they switch off tracking systems, and a maritime monitor confirmed three strikes on vessels in the waterway this week, CBS reported. Iran's navy said Friday it had identified a tanker on fire in what it called a prohibited area in the Gulf of Oman but did not say how the fire started, according to CBS. Houthi attacks on the palace compound of Yemen's internationally recognized government in Aden on Thursday killed at least five people and wounded more than a dozen others, government officials said, according to an Associated Press report carried by CBS; the Houthis claimed responsibility.

Sources told CBS that the White House and Pentagon have prepared plans to use the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb on Iranian military sites if Trump orders it. A White House spokesperson told CBS, "We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist." Trump said last week the U.S. would not attack Iran before the midterm elections, CBS noted.

Suspicious letters reach Congress and election offices. The FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating multiple letters containing suspicious substances mailed nationwide, including to congressional offices, according to a notice sent to Senate staff Thursday and described to ABC News. Law enforcement sources told ABC that preliminary information suggests more than 100 letters apparently containing white powder are circulating in the mail. Letters addressed to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Chris Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand and Lisa Blunt Rochester were intercepted, ABC reported. The FBI said it is also investigating suspicious mailings to secretary of state and election offices, and election offices in at least 15 states had reported receiving or being the intended recipient of suspicious mail as of Thursday evening, ABC reported. It is unclear whether the two sets of letters are connected, ABC said.

Sources used

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