Five weeks before the deadly attack at an elementary school, the teenage gunman was photographed looking directly into the camera with an unsettling, hostile expression.
John J. Griffin, 16, opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, killing three children—aged five, eight and 11—as well as one of their teachers.
A 54-year-old teacher was critically injured in the shooting. A seven-year-old student who uses a wheelchair was also shot in the face. Both victims remained hospitalized.
One victim was identified as five-year-old Rhoam Summer. Officials have not yet released the names of the teacher or the two other children who died.
Griffin reportedly began shooting after entering a special education classroom. He had attended the same school as a young child and was once a student there himself.
In a disturbing photograph shared by his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, last month, Griffin appeared thin and sullen, with a sparse moustache and patchy goatee.
John J Griffin, 16, is pictured with his mother, Shauntai Nickerson. Police say he killed three children, aged five, eight and 11, at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday.
Rhoam Summer, left, was identified as one of the shooting victims. He is pictured with his mother.
In 2020, Nickerson told a local television station that she welcomed the return to in-person classes because her son was having difficulty with remote learning during the Covid lockdowns.
‘I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,’ she told KTVZ 21.
‘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.’
As a child, Griffin was enrolled in NEST—the Nurturing Empathy, Safety and Trust program for special education students facing severe behavioral and social-skills difficulties.
Police said Griffin used his mother’s Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action shotgun in the attack. The weapon was reportedly purchased around the time he turned 16.
Nickerson, 43, works as a medical aide at Touchmark Living Centers. Her record includes numerous traffic offenses, and Bend police charged her with driving under the influence at 1:37 a.m. on July 29, 2018.
She was later convicted of harassment in 2023. A separate fourth-degree assault charge connected to the same incident was dismissed.
Speaking to reporters outside her Bend home, Nickerson described her son as ‘a good boy’ and said she would have intervened if she had been able to do so.
Griffin was shot and killed minutes after the attack began by Kalub Giamanco, 36, a father of two students at the school who heard gunfire while driving home during his lunch break.
Giamanco’s wife, Kelsey, center, confirmed that he was the parent who ran into the school to confront the gunman. The couple have two children enrolled at Silver Rail Elementary School.
Silver Lake Elementary School in Bend is shown Friday afternoon, one day after the mass shooting that claimed the lives of three young students and a teacher.
Giamanco used the shotgun to force his way through the school’s safety vestibule, a security system intended to protect students from armed attackers.
Griffin’s motive is unknown, but he attended the school as a child before moving on to the local high school.
Police raided Griffin’s family home on Thursday night, seizing computers and other electronic devices. Family was said to be cooperative.
Griffin was shot dead minutes after he began his rampage by Kalub Giamanco, 36, a dad of two children at the school who heard the gunshots as he drove home for his lunch break.
Giamanco’s wife Kelsey and brother Kyle, along with several of his friends, confirmed he was the hero who intervened by running inside the school.
He holds a concealed carry permit and is friends with the family of the seven-year-old in the wheelchair who was wounded.
Giamanco shot Griffin dead within moments of the massacre beginning just before 1pm on Thursday.
