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.
Authorities said John had been a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary and had 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.”
The police chief added that police are also still trying to determine how the shooter obtained the gun.
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, but drove off and called for help.
A second driver, a 36-year-old man whose children attend Silver Rail, saw John shooting at the truck and heading toward the school. He 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, Krantz said.
Police found John dead in the school minutes after the first calls for help, Krantz said. John shot through locked doors to get inside, police said.
The children who were killed were ages 5, 8 and 11, Krantz said. Three children ages 5, 8 and 11, and teacher Meghan Lambert, 25, were killed, police said. Another 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were wounded and were taken to a hospital in critical condition, Krantz said.
The youngest victim was a fast runner and fearless climber who loved reading and his stuffed animals, his aunt said Friday.
“He never met a stuffie that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for,” said his aunt, Swan Sheridan, who described him as “a little ball of energy from the moment he was born.”
The wounded teacher was identified by family as Becky Drury. Her mother-in-law, Yvonne Drury, said on Facebook that she had injuries to her left arm and right hand and was recovering from surgery.
The pump-action shotgun the attacker used was bought by his mother, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or by someone else with the parent’s consent.
Man who stopped the shooter a father of 2 at the school
In a statement read to reporters Friday, Kenda Freeman said her son, Kaylub Giamanco, shot the gunman in Thursday's attack at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend. 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, noting that her son is a lifelong resident of Bend, a mountain-ringed city of about 100,000 in central Oregon.
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, according to the Oregon Department of Education.
Classes and all other activities were canceled Friday for schools across Bend, a tourism and outdoor recreation hub that has ballooned in population and sits about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Portland.
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 the shooting could have been much worse
President Donald Trump on Friday praised the actions of 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.
At a news conference hours after Thursday’s attack, Gov. Tina Kotek — without naming Giamanco — said he had followed the gunman into the school and helped end the rampage as police began arriving.
“Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” said Kotek.
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.”
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Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Ben Finley in Washington; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Ed White in Detroit; Philip Marcelo in New York; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
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