Oregon school shooting: Police praise 'heroism' of those who intervened to stop more killing

Police in the northwestern US state of Oregon have identified a teenage gunman who shot dead four people at a school as a former special needs student there, while praising people who stepped in to stop more killings.

Three children aged 5, 8 and 11 lost their lives in Thursday's rampage, along with a 25-year-old female teacher, before the shooter was shot dead by a father of two pupils at the school, located in the town of Bend.

Another young child and a teacher were also injured in the attack.

A man in a vehicle outside the school who was shot at and missed by the 16-year-old gunman was the first to alert police to the danger.

Before they arrived, however, a female teacher tackled the shooter after he had already killed the victims with a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun in the school's special needs classroom.

While the two wrestled with each other, a man identified by family as Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father of two girls at the school, rushed in with his legally held weapon and shot the gunman dead.

"He heard shooting and saw a teacher involved in a physical altercation with the suspect ... and fired his weapon, striking the suspect multiple times," Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told reporters.

"When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. The teacher who is willing to stand and fight for her children ... incredible. That is true heroism, and we don't see that a lot in society," he said.