Oregon school shooter was former special needs student, police say

A teacher fought the teenage shooter and a parent shot him dead, police say on Friday, a day after four people were killed.

Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook speaks during a news conference in Bend, Oregon, on October 16, 2026, following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School [Payton Bruni/AFP]

The 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in the US state of Oregon was a former special-needs student at the school, police and school officials have said.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz identified the attacker on Friday, a day after the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, as Griffin J. John II.

list 1 of 3 Minneapolis shooting kills two, wounds three police officers

list 2 of 3 US arrests suspect in connection with Tumbler Ridge school shooting

list 3 of 3 Nine killed in shooting in US state of Pennsylvania, including two children

He said the teenager attacked a classroom of special-needs students, where all the victims were shot.

Steven Cook, superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, said John was not enrolled in the local public school system at the time.

“That classroom was a special needs classroom, and the suspect was a special needs student in that school,” Cook told a news conference.

Krantz said John shot his way through locked doors with a 12-gauge shotgun, firing as many as 15 shots, and had about 44 rounds left when he was killed. Police are still trying to determine how he obtained the gun.

Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or with a parent’s consent.

The shooter’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, separately told reporters outside her apartment: “I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something.”

A teacher threw her phone at the gunman, then tackled and fought him, likely saving lives, Krantz said, calling her actions “heroic”. She was not injured.

A 36-year-old father, Kaylub Giamanco, who has two children at the school, then followed the gunman inside and shot him dead minutes after the first 911 call.

US President Donald Trump called Giamanco a “great hero”. “It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” Trump said.

People mourn next to a cordoned-off area at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on October 16, 2026, the day after a shooting [David Ryder/Reuters]

The children killed were aged five, eight and 11, and the teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25, police said.

A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in critical condition.

The shooting is the 28th mass killing in the US this year, according to a database by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

The Gun Violence Archive in the US has documented 369 mass shootings in 2026, defined as incidents in which four or more people are shot.

The Everytown for Gun Safety group has counted at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds this year, with 34 deaths.

警方周五表示，一名教师与少年枪手搏斗，一名家长将其击毙。此前一天，四人丧生。

2026年10月16日，在俄勒冈州本德市银轨小学枪击案发生后，本德-拉派恩学区总监史蒂文·库克在新闻发布会上发表讲话。[佩顿·布鲁尼/法新社]

警方和学校官员表示，在美国俄勒冈州一所小学杀害三名儿童和一名教师的16岁少年，曾是该校的一名特殊需求学生。

本德警察局长迈克·克兰茨在银轨小学枪击案发生后的第二天，也就是周五，确认袭击者为格里芬·J·约翰二世。

明尼阿波利斯枪击案造成两名警察死亡，三名警察受伤（共三条记录，此为第1条）

美国逮捕的三名嫌疑人中的第二名与图姆布勒里奇学校枪击案有关。

宾夕法尼亚州枪击案造成9人死亡，其中包括两名儿童（共3条记录中的第3条）。

他说，这名青少年袭击了一间特殊教育班，班上所有学生都被枪击身亡。

本德-拉派恩学区总监史蒂文·库克表示，约翰当时并未在当地公立学校系统就读。

库克在新闻发布会上说：“那间教室是特殊教育教室，嫌疑人是那所学校的特殊教育学生。”

克兰茨说，约翰用一支12号口径霰弹枪射穿了锁着的门，开了多达15枪，被击毙时还剩下大约44发子弹。警方仍在调查他是如何获得这支枪的。

根据俄勒冈州法律，未成年人如果获得父母的提供或同意，可以拥有猎枪。

枪手的母亲肖恩泰·尼克尔森在公寓外单独告诉记者：“我很抱歉，我希望我能做些什么。”

克兰茨说，一名教师将手机扔向枪手，然后扑倒并制服了他，很可能挽救了他人的生命，他称赞她的行为“英勇”。她本人没有受伤。

一名 36 岁的父亲凯鲁布·贾曼科 (Kaylub Giamanco) 有两个孩子在这所学校就读，在接到第一个 911 报警电话几分钟后，他尾随枪手进入学校，并将其开枪打死。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普称贾曼科为“伟大的英雄”。特朗普说：“这是一件可怕的事情，但谢天谢地，有一个人有枪而且知道如何使用它。”

2026年10月16日，在俄勒冈州本德市银轨小学，人们在警戒线旁哀悼，此前一天发生了一起枪击事件。[David Ryder/路透社]

警方称，遇难儿童分别为5岁、8岁和11岁，教师是25岁的梅根·兰伯特。

一名七岁儿童和一名54岁教师被送往医院，情况危急。

根据美联社、《今日美国》和东北大学的数据库显示，这起枪击事件是美国今年发生的第28起大规模枪击事件。

美国枪支暴力档案记录显示，2026 年发生了 369 起大规模枪击事件，大规模枪击事件的定义是四人或四人以上被枪击。

“每个城镇都应保障枪支安全”组织统计，今年校园内至少发生了 100 起枪击事件，造成 34 人死亡。