Four people, including three children, are killed at an Oregon elementary school, where police say a bystander shot and killed the teenage gunman.
Plus, Senate debates get heated in Maine and Alaska, with candidates trading accusations and one Democrat telling his Republican opponent, “Oh, shut up.”
And the Trump administration sues California to block ballots from thousands of suspected noncitizens, but state officials say the government hasn’t provided reliable evidence.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.
Oregon school shooting leaves 4 dead before bystander stops gunman
Police in Oregon are trying to determine why a 16-year-old opened fire at an elementary school, killing four people, including three children.
The shooting occurred Thursday afternoon at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend. Police said the gunman killed three children between the ages of five and eleven, along with a teacher. First responders transported another severely wounded student and a teacher to the hospital in critical condition.
Investigators said the gunman entered by shooting through locked doors. And it all happened fast.
Police received the first 911 call at 12:59 p.m. local time. Officers arrived three minutes later, but someone else had already confronted the shooter.
“At 1:02 p.m., our first officers arrived on scene. Moments later, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school, pursued him into the school and engaged him. Our officers entered the building and confirmed the suspect was dead. They cleared the school to ensure there were no additional threats, and then rendered emergency aid to the victims.”
Chief Mike Krantz, Bend Police Department
Police have not identified the gunman. They also haven’t said whether he had any connection to the school.
The Associated Press reported that a law enforcement source said the teen used a pump-action shotgun his mother had given him. Police have not confirmed that detail.
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Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images -
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images -
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images
Jackson tells Collins to “shut up” during Maine Senate debate
Two Senate debates turned heated Thursday night, with control of the chamber on the line in November.
In Maine, things turned testy between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, when a protester interrupted their final debate.
Collins suggested the protester was a Jackson supporter, and Jackson shot back with two words: “Shut up.”
Sen. Susan Collins: So, this is obviously one of Troy’s supporters.
Troy Jackson: Oh, shut up. I didn’t — I don’t even know that kid.
That wasn’t the only sharp exchange. The two also sparred over the war in Iran, the national debt and their loyalty to their respective parties.
Collins argued she has a record of breaking with Republicans when she disagrees with them.
“I voted against my own party more often than any other senator on either side of the aisle. That is not something that Troy could ever say,” Collins said. “He’s going to be an automatic vote for the Democratic position, no matter what. We have lost a lot of the centrists, and one reason I’m running again is we need people who will work across party lines.”
Jackson countered that when President Donald Trump really needs her vote, he gets it.
“The reality is that 100% of the time, when Donald Trump needs her, Susan Collins is going to be there. That has happened time and time again. The votes that she throws away are managed votes that she already knows the outcome,” Jackson said. “She consistently talks about how I don’t get anything done. I had 40 vetoes with Governor Mills, 50 with LePage — I mean, those are bills that got passed. I mean, how can I be a rubber stamp with my very own governor, Democratic governor, vetoing 40 of my bills?”
Meanwhile, in Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola also clashed over the war in Iran and high energy prices.
But things turned personal when Sullivan accused Peltola of cashing in on her time in Washington, and Peltola accused him of lying.
Sen. Dan Sullivan: She made almost a half a million dollars last year as a D.C. lobbyist selling—
Mary Peltola: I would like to rebut this claim.
Sullivan: Selling — quit interrupting — selling her knowledge of D.C.
Peltola: I think that Alaskans have had it up to here with the lying and dishonesty. Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself for propagating these lies.
Both Maine and Alaska are important battlegrounds in the fight for control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority.
DOJ sues California over mail ballots cast by suspected noncitizens
The Trump administration has sued California to block mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 voters it suspects are not U.S. citizens, but state officials said the government hasn’t provided reliable evidence that those voters are ineligible.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, asks a federal judge to prevent California and Los Angeles County election officials from counting ballots submitted by those voters unless their citizenship is verified.
The Justice Department says California has failed to address potentially ineligible voters on its registration rolls. But state officials dispute that claim and say the information provided by federal authorities is insufficient to determine whether the voters were improperly registered.
The federal government has identified roughly 20,000 people it believes are likely noncitizens, but has not established that they are ineligible to vote or that any have cast ballots. Los Angeles County’s registrar rejected a USB drive containing information from federal authorities, citing security concerns about accepting the device.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber challenged the government’s evidence.
“Nowhere has the federal government clarified the basis for suspecting — not even confirming with any level of certainty — the listed individuals are noncitizens,” Weber said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit a “sad, desperate attempt” to suppress votes. “We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused the administration of promoting “conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud that doesn’t exist.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department’s actions, warning that California officials “will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system” if they fail to address the government’s concerns.
The California lawsuit follows a series of Justice Department efforts to obtain voter-registration records from states. Unlike those cases, the new lawsuit seeks to prevent certain ballots from being counted.
According to CBS News, the administration has lost 26 of those previous cases without securing a victory.
Trump cancels execution livestream after poll finds 80% of Americans opposed
Following bipartisan backlash, President Donald Trump announced the Pentagon will not livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Trump shared the update on Truth Social Thursday, saying victims’ families are welcome to attend in person, “but this event will not be streamed.”
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” Trump wrote. “But, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
The decision comes after strong public backlash and new polling found that eight in 10 Americans oppose broadcasting the execution. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 80% oppose livestreaming it, including 64% of Republicans.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed by a firing squad on Dec. 3. A jury convicted him of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the execution would be available for public viewing. But Trump reversed that plan.
Trump said immediate family members of the victims can still watch Hasan’s execution in person.
CNN reported Trump wasn’t initially aware that Hegseth planned to announce a public broadcast. A Pentagon spokesman said the two discussed the reversal before Trump’s announcement and are “completely aligned.”
If carried out, this would be the military’s first execution since 1961 and its first by firing squad since World War II.
Zacharia defends calling herself a lawyer despite never passing the bar
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia acknowledged Thursday that she never passed the bar exam but insists she can still call herself a lawyer.
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine Law School but has not passed the exam typically required to practice law.
Earlier this week, she faced questions about the validity of her legal credentials and whether she had misrepresented them. On Thursday night, she appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity to explain why she calls herself a lawyer but not an attorney. She pointed to her law degree and previous work at a Chinese law firm.
“Why get into this long, drawn-out definition of the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Because I don’t think most people see much of a distinction.
When I went to engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal professionals as to whether they agreed that I could be labeled a lawyer, both because I had a valid Juris Doctor from a good, reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School, and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience. I wasn’t providing any legal analysis, Sean — or, excuse me, legal advice. I wasn’t being paid for legal advice. I was giving a general review of the legal circumstances surrounding it.”
Katie Zacharia, White House press secretary
But the American Bar Association doesn’t make such a distinction. It uses “lawyer” and “attorney” interchangeably.
Although exceptions to the traditional bar exam requirement exist, states generally require a license to practice law. Zacharia does not appear to hold an active law license in any state.
Brewers sweep Dodgers to reach first World Series since 1982
The Milwaukee Brewers are headed to the World Series for the first time in 44 years.
Milwaukee completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.
YOUR MILWAUKEE BREWERS ARE HEADING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://t.co/9wrVOIy54p
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 16, 2026
Garrett Mitchell put the Brewers ahead with a sixth-inning home run. David Hamilton added a solo shot in the ninth, icing on the cake.
The Brewers haven’t been to the World Series since 1982, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. But it’s not like they’ve been sitting around since then.
Milwaukee has made the playoffs eight times in the last nine seasons. Now they’ll face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays.
Game one of the World Series is set for next Friday, Oct. 23.
More from Straight Arrow:
Does ‘cooling pavement’ still work after a few years of traffic? We checked.
It may be October, but standing in the middle of a Southern California street in triple-digit temperatures, armed with a thermometer gun to measure the scalding pavement beneath your feet, makes you wonder how some areas are combating hot asphalt in an age of accelerating climate change. Straight Arrow recently traveled to the San Fernando Valley, just north of Los Angeles, to find out.
A program in parts of the region is designed to keep asphalt cooler, which experts say comes with some benefits. The cool pavements program is rolling out in Pacoima, home to around 75,000 people, about 24 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles allocated $1 million for these projects in the most recent fiscal year, but it’s unclear how much more will go to these kinds of programs.
Most importantly, does it actually work?
After crossing the hill by car and entering the San Fernando Valley, the outdoor temperature quickly rose. With few clouds in the sky, temperatures rose to over 90 degrees. Getting out of the vehicle, it only took a couple of minutes before you broke out in full-body sweats.
