Oregon teacher wounded in school shooting says she pretended to be dead after being shot

Becky Drury, the 54-year-old teacher wounded in the Oct. 15 shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, said Wednesday that the gunman shot her at close range before she had “any chance to act” and that she survived by pretending to be dead.

The statement is Drury’s first detailed account of the Oregon school shooting, which killed three children and a teacher, and comes as she seeks to correct what she described as contradictory reporting about her actions.

Drury wrote that she ran to see what was happening outside her classroom. “I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there,” she wrote. “Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to the ground.”

Lying on the floor, she wrote, she saw that her left hand was almost completely severed from the gunshot and that her other arm was severely injured. “I could not get up, defend myself, or protect anyone else,” she said. “So, I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope he would not shoot me again.”

Drury suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the Oct. 15 attack. The shooting killed three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher; a 7-year-old student was also seriously wounded.

The suspect was identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former student at the school. Police said he shot through the school’s locked doors before entering a special needs classroom and opening fire.

The gunman was tackled by another teacher and fatally shot by an armed bystander, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, who followed him into the school, according to police.

Drury said she was sharing what happened because “I want to make sure the events of that day and my actions in particular are reported accurately.”

“I know there has been contradictory reporting about my actions that day, but the truth is I was shot before I had any chance to act,” she wrote.

She thanked those who have supported her since the shooting. “What happened in that classroom was unimaginable, and like so many in this community, my heart is broken for everyone affected by this tragedy,” Drury said.

Reporting by CBS News. Read the original report: Oregon teacher wounded in school shooting says she pretended to be dead after being shot.