Teen shooter who killed 4 at Oregon elementary school was a former student, police say
Community members gather at an impromptu memorial at Silver Rail Elementary School, the day after a shooting, in Bend, Oregon, U.S., Oct. 16. Reuters-Yonhap
BEND, Ore. — A teacher threw her phone at the teenage gunman who killed four people at an Oregon elementary school, then tackled and fought with him — likely saving lives before he was shot by a father who followed him into the building, police said Friday.
City of Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called the teacher's actions “heroic” during a news conference and said she was not injured. He identified the attacker as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II and said all of the victims were shot in the same classroom.
John was once a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary, authorities said, and he attacked a classroom with special needs students. He fired as many as 15 shots from a 12-gauge shotgun and had about 44 rounds remaining when he was killed, Krantz said.
“Everyone wants to know why, including us,” he said. “We may never get that full answer, but we want it.”
Investigators are trying to determine how the shooter obtained the pump-action shotgun, Krantz added.
A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press it was bought by his mother. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
A person stands near a makeshift memorial outside Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Ore., Oct. 16, a day after a deadly shooting. AP-Yonhap
The attacker’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, told reporters outside her apartment near the school that if she could have done something to prevent the shooting, she would have.
“I miss my boy,” Nickerson said, sobbing and crying, according to The New York Times and CNN. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something. I’m sorry for their loss.”
She declined to say how the 16-year-old obtained the pump-action shotgun and didn’t comment further when The Associated Press and other outlets knocked on her apartment door later.
In a 2020 interview with the local news station KTVZ, Nickerson identified the boy, then 10, as a participant in a special needs program run by the school district. It was called NEST, for Nurturing Empathy, Safety and Trust, and aimed at helping students experiencing intensive behavioral and social skill challenges. Nickerson said he struggled trying to learn from home during the pandemic.
Shooter killed minutes after first 911 call
The first 911 call came from the driver of a red pickup truck early Thursday afternoon who saw the boy throw his gun over a fence outside the school and then climb over it, Krantz said. The driver yelled at the boy, who fired at him, striking the truck three times. The driver was not injured.
A second driver, Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old man whose children attend Silver Rail, saw John shooting at the truck and heading toward the school, where he shot through locked doors to get inside. Giamanco pulled into the parking lot, grabbed his .40-caliber pistol and followed the attacker inside. He saw John wrestling with the teacher and shot him several times.
Three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and teacher Megan Lambert, 25, were killed, police said. A 7-year-old child who was injured received lifesaving care at the scene and is now hospitalized, as is 54-year-old teacher Becky Drury, who her family said was shot in the arm and hand and was recovering from surgery.
There were no other children in the classroom, authorities said.
The youngest victim, Rhoam Summer, was a fearless climber and a fast runner who loved reading, his aunt Swan Sheridan said Friday.
“He never met a stuffie that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for,” she said.
Man who stopped shooter father of 2 at school
In a statement read to reporters Friday, Giamanco's mother, Kenda Freeman, identified him as the person who shot the gunman. She said he is the father of two girls at the school.
“He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel and community for the outpouring of love and support,” Freeman said.
She said her family was asking for privacy “during this difficult time.”
Silver Rail Elementary has students in kindergarten through fifth grade, with about 450 enrolled last year.
Classes and all other activities were canceled Friday for schools across Bend, a mountain-ringed city of about 100,000 that has become a tourism and outdoor recreation hub in central Oregon.
The shooting was the 28th mass killing in the U.S. this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Trump says shooting could have been much worse
President Donald Trump on Friday praised the man who stopped the gunman, calling him a “great hero" who he said “took care of business.”
“It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding the tragedy likely would have been much worse.
Memorials with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals popped up around the school, which sits in a densely packed neighborhood filled with newly built homes.
Brooke Olsen, whose daughter is a kindergartner at Silver Rail, said she was amazed that someone pursued the shooter.
“I think it’s miraculous that someone was there before law enforcement even arrived to stop further tragedy from happening," Olsen said Friday, weeping at times. "I’m feeling very grateful.”