Police Name Oregon School Gunman, 16, and Say the Shotgun Was Bought by His Mother

The 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday has been identified as Griffin J. John II, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a news conference Friday. He was shot dead at the school by a bystander and was a former student there, police said.

Law enforcement sources told CBS News the shotgun used in the attack was purchased by his mother. Krantz said a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun was found near the suspect, along with a backpack. Three types of ammunition were used, birdshot, buckshot and slugs. The suspect fired as many as 15 rounds, and 44 more rounds were recovered at the scene. A motive has not been given.

Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said the classroom where the shooting happened was a special needs classroom and that the suspect had been a special needs student at the school. In 2020, the suspect's mother, Shauntai Nickerson, told a local television station that her then-10-year-old son had special needs and struggled to learn from home during the pandemic.

Krantz laid out a sequence of events. The suspect approached the school fence on foot, threw the shotgun over it and climbed after it. A man passing in a pickup truck confronted him, and the suspect fired on the truck, hitting it at least three times. That driver made the first 911 call. The suspect then forced his way in by firing into the glass of a set of double doors and went straight into the classroom just to the left of the entrance. "All of the victims were shot in that classroom," Krantz said.

A 36-year-old father who had watched the exchange drove into the school lot, took a legally owned .40-caliber pistol from his vehicle and went in. "As he made entry through the forced open doors, he heard shooting and saw a teacher involved in a physical altercation with the suspect," Krantz said. The man fired and struck the suspect multiple times. His family identified him as Kaylub Giamanco, who has two daughters at the school. His family said he "is not seeking recognition" and asked for privacy. President Trump called him a "great hero" who "took care of business."

Krantz also praised a teacher who threw her cellphone at the suspect, tackled him and fought to take the gun. She was not hurt, and Krantz said she "almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed."

The children killed were ages 5, 8 and 11. Police identified the 5-year-old as Rhoam Summer and the 25-year-old teacher killed as Meghan Lambert. Two others were seriously wounded, a 7-year-old girl being treated at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland in serious but stable condition, and a 54-year-old teacher, Becky Drury, with non-life-threatening injuries. Law enforcement sources said investigators are combing through the attacker's devices and online activity, including whether he was obsessed with violence and prior mass shootings. They stressed the investigation is at a preliminary stage.