A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told OPB that suspect Griffin J. John II has no known previous juvenile criminal history.
It’s been just days since the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School rocked the community of Bend. As residents across the city grieve the three students and teacher who were shot and killed in a special education classroom, many are still left with questions about the motive behind the attack.
Little has been confirmed about the suspected shooter, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, or a possible motive. Bend police confirmed Friday that John had previously attended Silver Rail but was not enrolled at Bend-La Pine schools. A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told OPB that John has no known previous juvenile criminal history.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. At a press briefing Friday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said they may never know the full answer.
“I think that’s one of the most challenging parts of these types of investigations and cases is determining ‘why’ in the motives,” Krantz said. “It will require substantial investigative time to continue that. But that is the answer we’re seeking as well.”
In Bend on Saturday, many families were trying to return to a sense of normalcy. The city’s Park and Recreation District canceled events throughout the weekend in light of the tragedy, but kids still played at the park and attended birthday parties.
Stephanie Day, a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School who lives near Silver Rail, said she didn’t know what to do with herself.
“We were roaming aimlessly around our house trying to figure out why we can’t figure out what to do,” Day said, as she walked with her daughter and husband to a memorial outside the school.
Day’s daughter, Poppy, a fifth-grader at Trinity, described feeling “sad and angry.”
How the shooting unfolded
The first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. Thursday, when the driver of a passing pickup truck told Deschutes County dispatchers someone was shooting at them, Krantz said. At least two drivers reported seeing John approach Silver Rail Elementary School with a gun. The teen threw the weapon over a fence and climbed the fence onto the campus. When the driver of the pickup verbally confronted him, the suspect fired at the truck, hitting it at least three times. The driver continued down the street to call 911.
The driver of the second vehicle, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, the father of two Silver Rail students, followed the suspect into the school’s parking lot, Krantz said. Giamanco grabbed a .40-caliber pistol from his vehicle and followed the teen inside. The suspected shooter had gotten into the building by shooting out the windows on its locked doors. He entered a classroom immediately to the left of where he came in and fired as many as 15 rounds.
A teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the suspect, tackled him and fought to take his gun, Krantz said. Giamanco entered the classroom while the two were struggling and shot and killed the 16-year-old shooter. Police arrived less than five minutes after the first call, and the suspect was already dead. Investigators found a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and 44 rounds of ammunition with him.
Three students and one teacher were killed during the attack, while another teacher and student were seriously injured.
One of the students killed was 5-year-old Rhoam Summer. In a GoFundMe set up to support the Silver Rail school community, Summer was described as “a very happy little boy, a ball of energy from the day he was born, an incredibly fast runner and a fearless climber.”
“He loved to read, and he believed every stuffed animal needed to be rescued and cared for, especially his sharks, dinosaurs, and other creatures he considered misunderstood,” the post detailed, citing Summer’s aunt. “He wanted all of his stuffed sea creatures to be rainbow, his favorite color.”
The teacher killed, 25-year-old Megan Lambert, was described in the same GoFundMe as “funny and outspoken, someone who brightened any room,” according to her family. “She always stood up for the underdog and for children with special needs.”
54-year-old Becky Drury of Bend was identified by Bend police as the teacher injured in the shooting. Drury was taken to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, where she is recovering from her injuries.
The names of the two other students killed Thursday, and the student injured, have not been officially released, according to the families’ wishes.
OPB reporter Joni Auden Land contributed to this report.
