Oregon school shooter was former special needs student, police say

A teacher fought the teenage shooter and a genitor changeable him dead, constabulary accidental connected Friday, a time aft 4 radical were killed.

The 16-year-old who killed 3 children and a teacher astatine an simple schoolhouse successful the US authorities of Oregon was a erstwhile special-needs pupil astatine the school, constabulary and schoolhouse officials person said.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz identified the attacker connected Friday, a time aft the shooting astatine Silver Rail Elementary School, arsenic Griffin J. John II.

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He said the teen attacked a classroom of special-needs students, wherever each the victims were shot.

Steven Cook, superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, said John was not enrolled successful the section nationalist schoolhouse strategy astatine the time.

“That schoolroom was a peculiar needs classroom, and the fishy was a peculiar needs pupil successful that school,” Cook told a quality conference.

Krantz said John changeable his mode done locked doors with a 12-gauge shotgun, firing arsenic galore arsenic 15 shots, and had astir 44 rounds near erstwhile helium was killed. Police are inactive trying to find however helium obtained the gun.

Under Oregon law, a insignificant whitethorn person a shotgun if provided by a genitor oregon with a parent’s consent.

The shooter’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, separately told reporters extracurricular her apartment: “I’m truthful sorry, I privation I could person done something.”

A teacher threw her telephone astatine the gunman, past tackled and fought him, apt redeeming lives, Krantz said, calling her actions “heroic”. She was not injured.

A 36-year-old father, Kaylub Giamanco, who has 2 children astatine the school, past followed the gunman wrong and changeable him dormant minutes aft the archetypal 911 call.

US President Donald Trump called Giamanco a “great hero”. “It’s a unspeakable thing, but convey goodness for a antheral that had a weapon and knew however to usage it,” Trump said.

People mourn adjacent to a cordoned-off country astatine Silver Rail Elementary School successful Bend, Oregon, connected October 16, 2026, the time aft a shooting [David Ryder/Reuters]

The children killed were aged five, 8 and 11, and the teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25, constabulary said.

A seven-year-old kid and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to infirmary successful captious condition.

The shooting is the 28th wide sidesplitting successful the US this year, according to a database by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

The Gun Violence Archive successful the US has documented 369 wide shootings successful 2026, defined arsenic incidents successful which 4 oregon much radical are shot.

The Everytown for Gun Safety radical has counted astatine slightest 100 incidents of gunfire connected schoolhouse grounds this year, with 34 deaths.