The 16-year-old who killed at least four people at an Oregon elementary school has been identified, providing insight as to his motivation in targeting the special education classroom.
Thursday, the Silver Rail Elementary School of Bend, Oregon, became the site of a great tragedy which may have been worse had it not been for great heroism. In the latest press conference from the police chief, the teen said to have killed three children and a teacher was identified as Griffin J. John II, himself a former student of the special education program.
During his Friday press conference, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz announced he would be naming the suspect a solitary time as he went through a more detailed timeline of the events amid the ongoing investigation.
🚨 BREAKING: The 16-year-old Oregon school shooter reportedly BLASTED through a school’s security locks before heading straight to his former special education classroom, where he murdered three children and a teacher.
Disturbing new details reveal that John J. Griffin II threw a 12-gauge shotgun over the fence at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend before climbing over himself.
According to law enforcement sources cited by the New York Post, Griffin initially attempted to enter through the front doors but was confronted by two bystanders, including a father carrying a concealed firearm.
After being stopped, Griffin reportedly ran to the back of the building and shot through the security locks to gain entry.
He then headed directly toward the special education classroom he once attended, killing three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher. A 7-year-old child in a wheelchair and another teacher, 54, were injured.
The shooter was ultimately shot and killed by armed father Kaylub Giamanco, who had spotted the teenager while driving home for lunch.
Authorities’ sources also revealed that the shotgun had been legally purchased by Griffin’s mother around his birthday in August.
— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) October 16, 2026
As he explained, before entry was made into the school, the teen was initially encountered by the driver of a pickup truck who, as Krantz described it, “verbally confronted” the individual, who then fired upon the man, striking his vehicle at least three times with a weapon described as a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun.
The driver was one of dozens of reported calls to 911 that initiated a lockdown at the school. To enter the building, the suspect was said to have shot the lock off.
As was reported, the threat was ultimately eliminated when a citizen intervened, taking it upon himself to shoot the suspect. That man has since been identified as 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, whose own children attend Silver Rail Elementary.
Krantz explained that Giamanco witnessed the shooting of the pickup truck and pursued the suspect into the school, where he found the teen in an altercation with a teacher, surrounded by the victims that had been shot: children aged 5 to 8 years old and 11 years old, along with 25-year-old Megan Lambert. Another student, aged 7 years old, and a 54-year-old teacher were also hospitalized.
It was at that point that the good guy with a gun neutralized the suspect, who was said to still have 44 rounds of ammunition on his person.
“I don’t think we can underestimate or underappreciate that courage,” Krantz said when speaking of Giamanco. “When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. The quick thinking to observe, to then park and follow someone into the school is incredible and undoubtedly saved people.
As for the teacher who fought against the suspect, the police chief said, “The teacher who’s willing to stand and fight for her children — incredible. We all recognize that is true heroism. We don’t see that a lot in society.”
Struggles with schooling were previously reported when it concerned the suspect, as a September 2020 report from KTVZ cited the suspect’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, commenting on her son’s difficulties learning from home during COVID.
“I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,” she said when the opportunity to return to the classroom became available. “And I think it will be great for my son to get the help that he needs from the skilled teachers that he needs to get it from.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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