Oregon elementary school shooter identified as 16-year-old graduate

Suspect fired 15 rounds but had 44 live rounds remaining

A woman embraces a child near a police perimeter after a shooting at SilverRail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Friday. [Reuters]
A woman embraces a child near a police perimeter after a shooting at SilverRail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Friday. [Reuters]

The gunman who opened fire at SilverRail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, was a 16-year-old former student, authorities confirmed. A parent who saw the shooter enter the building where his two daughters attend school retrieved a handgun from his car and went inside, fatally shooting the attacker. A teacher also physically confronted the gunman, and officials said the actions of those inside the school prevented further casualties.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz identified the shooter at a news conference Friday as Griffin J. John II, according to the Associated Press.

John climbed a school fence carrying a shotgun his mother had purchased, then shot through a locked door to gain entry to the building, investigators said.

A teacher who witnessed the intrusion threw her cellphone at the attacker, then lunged at him and struggled to wrest the weapon away. She survived the shooting.

Caleb Giamanco, 36, whose two daughters attend the school, spotted the gunman and retrieved a handgun from his vehicle before entering the building. He found the shooter grappling with the teacher and killed him.

Before he was shot, John had fired about 15 rounds; 44 live rounds remained in his bag when he died. Krantz called the actions of the teacher and the parent heroic, saying they prevented additional deaths.

The shooter's mother, Shontay Nickerson, wept as she apologized to the victims and their families. "I miss my child. I am so sorry," she said. "I wish there was something I could have done."

Police have not yet determined a motive. "Everyone wants to know why this happened," Krantz said, adding that investigators were doing everything possible to find out. Police are looking into the relationship between the shooter and the victims, as well as how he obtained his mother's firearm.

The shooting killed three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and a teacher, Megan Lambert, 54. A 7-year-old child and another teacher were taken to a hospital.

President Donald Trump called Giamanco "a great hero."


kacew@heraldcorp.com