A mother who survived a 2001 school shooting found herself consoling her son by text after gunfire erupted at his Oregon elementary school earlier this week.
The woman, identified only as Michelle, was able to stay in contact with one of her sons after 16-year-old Griffin John II opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday.
Michelle told CNN that she was a freshman at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, California, when Jason Anthony Hoffman wounded five people there in 2001.
“I was just in shock. I was like, how can this happen? How can lightning strike twice? How can I go through this and then my children go through this?” she said.
Michelle’s fifth-grade son called her from his Apple Watch moments after John began shooting inside the school. “Mom, there’s a shooter,” he told her.
She said she immediately recognized from his voice that something was seriously wrong. Moments later, he sent another message: “Shooter at school.”
Screenshots of the exchange obtained by CNN show Michelle replying: “Baby I love you don’t call anyone please be as quiet as possible.”
“If you can safely, text me, that’s OK just don’t make any calls. The police are going to help you. I love you so much,” she wrote. Her son also told her that his brother was safe.
Silver Lake Elementary in Bend is pictured on Friday afternoon in the wake of Thursday’s shooting that killed three students and a teacher
Michelle managed to communicate over text with one of her sons as the shooting happened
Thursday marked the first time Michelle had told her two sons that she, too, had survived a school shooting.
The 2001 attack continues to affect her, she told CNN, and she has experienced panic attacks because of the trauma.
“Every single time I dropped them off, and I would see them walk in the front doors, I would get a pit in my stomach thinking, ‘I hope I see him again.’ It’s probably because of the trauma I went through,” Michelle said.
John killed three students on Thursday, including five-year-old Rhoam Summer, as well as Meghan Lambert, 25, a teacher, before he was fatally shot by Kaylub Giamanco.
Seven-year-old Saylor Graham and educational assistant Becky Drury were also injured during the attack.
Police said John fired 15 rounds before Giamanco killed him. Investigators said the gunman targeted a special-needs classroom where he had once been a student.
John used a firearm his mother had purchased around his 16th birthday in August. Authorities said they were still investigating how he obtained the ammunition, describing the case as “very active.” His motive remains unknown.
Giamanco rushed into the school after seeing John enter the building carrying a shotgun.
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Griffin John II, 16, who killed three children aged five, eight, and 11 at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday is pictured
Meghan Lambert, 25, of Bend, was the teacher killed in the elementary school shooting in Oregon
Once inside, Giamanco saw a teacher struggling with the shooter and opened fire, killing John instantly.
The teacher later revealed she threw her cellphone at John to ‘distract’ him before grappling with him to try and wrestle away his weapon.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called Giamanco ‘a true hero’, adding: ‘His quick-thinking to observe and then follow someone into the school is incredible and undoubtedly saved lives.
‘And that is something that came naturally as a protective father. The teacher who is willing to stand and fight for her children is incredible. We all recognize that is true heroism and we don’t see that a lot in society.’
John fired as many as 15 shots during the shooting and had 44 left when he was shot dead, according to police.
Police said that John was so intent on targeting his former class that he ran around to the back entrance after being fired upon while trying to go in through the front.
John, who was not enrolled in a Bend public school at the time, traveled to Silver Rail Elementary on foot. The route is being investigated.
Griffin was shot dead minutes after he began his rampage by Kalub Giamanco, 36, (pictured) a dad of two children at the school who heard the gunshots as he drove home for his lunch break
Rhoam Summer (left) was named as one of the victims of Thursday’s shooting. He is pictured with his mother
He threw the Maverick .88 12–gauge pump–action shotgun over the fence before jumping over but found himself blocked from entering.
He then ran to the back entrance and blasted his way in through a ‘safety vestibule’ system designed to keep children at the school safe from shooters.
The mother of the gunman told reporters she was ‘devastated’ but refused to confirm she had purchased the shotgun for her son for his 16th birthday.
Shauntai Nickerson said: ‘I wish I could have done something. I’m so sorry. I miss my boy.’
Ms Lambert’s family called her ‘compassionate with a huge heart’, adding in a statement: ‘She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.’
The aunt of Rhoam, Swan Sheridan, said: ‘He never met a stuffed animal that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for. He was a fearless climber, fast runner and loved reading.’
Two other children aged eight and 11 were also killed. Their names have not been released.
