A 16-year-old carried out the Bend school shooting. Could his parents face charges?

It’s illegal in Oregon for anyone under 18 to possess a firearm, with a few exceptions. So how exactly did the 16-year-old who carried out a school shooting in Bend, Oregon , last week get access to a gun and ammunition?

That question has yet to be answered and is part of what Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called an “active criminal investigation.”

Recent cases in Michigan and Georgia suggest either or both parents of the teenage school shooter could be held criminally liable for the killings.

In Michigan, James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of 14-year-old school shooter Ethan Crumbley , were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. In Georgia, Colin Gray, the father of 14-year-old school shooter Colt Gray , was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

And in a pending case in Wisconsin, the father of a 15-year-old school shooter faces three felony charges for allegedly allowing his daughter access to firearms. Jeffrey Rupnow, 44, has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set for March, according to court records .

Those cases were part of a broader movement pushing the limits of who is accountable for a mass shooting. For prosecutors, the goal of bringing these cases is to ensure gun-owning parents secure their firearms and thereby prevent future school shootings.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

In Oregon, the investigation has only just begun but legal experts believe the investigation will follow a similar path.

“It certainly could lead to a situation like we’ve seen recently in the last few years in Georgia and also Michigan, where parents have been charged criminally,” said Andrew McCabe, CNN senior law enforcement analyst.

Like in the Michigan and Georgia cases, investigators are likely to focus on how the Oregon school shooter obtained the firearm and what the parents knew about the potential risks to others.

“I think this investigation will head the same way,” said CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. “How did he get access to guns? What did the parents know?”

In the Bend school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, the armed 16-year-old shooter killed three children and a teacher before he was fatally shot by a student’s parent. Another child and teacher also were injured, officials said.

A pump-action shotgun was found near the suspect, who had about 44 remaining rounds of ammunition, Krantz said.

Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

It took just 3 minutes. How the Bend school shooting unfolded

The gun had been purchased by the teen’s mother, a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN.

Per Oregon law , it’s illegal for a juvenile to possess a firearm but there are exceptions for certain long guns if the firearm was transferred by their parent or is used temporarily for hunting or target practice.

The shooter’s parents were interviewed and were cooperative, a senior law enforcement official told CNN.

A search warrant was executed at the alleged shooter’s house on Thursday and computers and other electronics were taken, the source said . Search warrants have also been obtained to gain access to the devices and extract data, according to the source.

The suspect, Griffin J. John II , was a former special needs student at the school, police said. His mother spoke in 2020 with CNN affiliate KTVZ about his special needs and his enrollment in a program described as serving children with “intensive behavioral and social skills challenges.”

“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,” she told the station.

The suspect’s mother spoke briefly with CNN off camera from her balcony on Friday. She said there were no warning signs and declined to comment on how her son got access to the gun.

“I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something. I’m sorry for their loss,” she told CNN.

The criminal cases against the Crumbleys in Michigan and Colin Gray in Georgia featured similar allegations: An unsecured firearm and inattentive parents.

In each situation, a parent purchased a gun for their teenage son as a Christmas gift and left the firearm unsecured. The parents also allegedly knew their son had mental health problems and was a threat to others but did not properly address the issues by putting him into counseling or therapy.

Prosecutors argued the parents’ actions represented “criminal negligence” – and the juries agreed.

Abbey Cutrer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

What Colin Gray’s murder conviction means for gun-owning parents

For example, in Gray’s trial, police had visited his home a year prior to the school shooting to investigate an online threat to shoot up a school . Colt Gray denied posting the threat and law enforcement was ultimately unable to substantiate the tip.

Colin Gray bought his son an AR-15-style rifle later that year. He testified he sometimes allowed his son to keep the rifle in his bedroom, and left other weapons and ammo lying around the house.

His defense attorney said he tried his best to help his son but simply didn’t have warning about his violent plans. But prosecutors argued he acted negligently by buying a gun and ignoring warnings of the potential risk to others.

“This was a trial about this defendant’s actions, his choices and his responsibility,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said.

In the Oregon case, there are more questions than answers at this point. How did the 16-year-old get access to the firearm and ammo? What did the parents know of their son’s mental health issues and the potential threat he posed to others? Were there warning signs ahead of time, and what did people around him do about them?

Simply buying a gun for a child is not illegal on its own, legal experts said.

“The purchase, per se, is not necessarily improper,” said Katherine Schweit, a former Chicago prosecutor and FBI special agent.

McCabe said investigators will be looking for more than just a purchase history.

“They’ll need evidence, actual proof that the parent knew that, let’s say, the minor was in a vulnerable state. And the parent, despite knowing that, basically gave the minor access to the firearm, knowing that they might be in a vulnerable position,” he said.

“Those are all hard things to prove after the fact. So we’ll have to see what comes out of the investigation.”

CNN’s John Miller, Nick Watt, Norma Galeana and Alaa Elassar contributed to this report.

在俄勒冈州，除少数例外情况外，18岁以下的人持有枪支是违法的。那么，上周在俄勒冈州本德市制造校园枪击案的那名16岁少年究竟是如何获得枪支和弹药的呢？

这个问题尚未得到解答，并且是本德市警察局长迈克·克兰茨所说的“正在进行的刑事调查”的一部分。

密歇根州和佐治亚州最近的案例表明，青少年校园枪击案凶手的父母一方或双方可能要为这些杀戮承担刑事责任。

在密歇根州，14岁校园枪击案凶手伊桑·克伦布利的父母詹姆斯·克伦布利和詹妮弗·克伦布利被判过失杀人罪，并被判处10至15年监禁。在佐治亚州，14岁校园枪击案凶手科尔特·格雷的父亲科林·格雷被判谋杀罪，并被判处15年监禁。

在威斯康星州的一起待审案件中，一名15岁校园枪击案凶手的父亲面临三项重罪指控，罪名是涉嫌允许女儿接触枪支。据法庭记录显示，44岁的杰弗里·鲁普诺已否认所有指控，他的审判定于3月进行。

这些案件是更广泛的运动的一部分，这场运动旨在拓展大规模枪击事件责任认定的范围。对检察官而言，提起这些诉讼的目标是确保拥有枪支的家长妥善保管枪支，从而防止未来校园枪击事件的发生。

比尔·普利亚诺/盖蒂图片社

在俄勒冈州，调查才刚刚开始，但法律专家认为调查将遵循类似的路径。

“这很可能会导致像过去几年我们在佐治亚州和密歇根州看到的情况一样，父母因此受到刑事指控，” CNN 高级执法分析师安德鲁·麦凯布说。

与密歇根州和佐治亚州的案件类似，调查人员可能会重点关注俄勒冈州校园枪击案凶手是如何获得枪支的，以及家长们对可能给其他人带来的风险了解多少。

“我认为这次调查也会朝着同样的方向发展，”美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）国家安全分析师朱丽叶·凯耶姆说。“他是如何获得枪支的？他的父母又知道些什么？”

在班德市银轨小学发生的校园枪击案中，一名16岁的持枪枪手杀害了三名儿童和一名教师，随后被一名学生的家长击毙。官方称，另有一名儿童和一名教师受伤。

克兰茨说，在嫌疑人附近发现了一把泵动式霰弹枪，嫌疑人身上还剩下大约 44 发子弹。

Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

仅仅用了3分钟。本德校园枪击案是如何发生的。

一位了解调查情况的高级执法官员告诉 CNN，这把枪是这名青少年的母亲购买的。

根据俄勒冈州法律，未成年人持有枪支是违法的，但如果枪支是由其父母转让的，或者暂时用于狩猎或射击练习，则某些长枪除外。

一名高级执法官员告诉 CNN，警方对枪手的父母进行了询问，他们很配合。

消息人士称，周四警方对涉嫌枪手的住所执行了搜查令，并带走了电脑和其他电子设备。该消息人士还表示，警方已获得搜查令，以便获取这些设备并提取数据。

警方称，嫌疑人格里芬·J·约翰二世曾是该校的一名特殊教育学生。他的母亲曾在2020年接受CNN附属电视台KTVZ采访时谈到他的特殊需求以及他参加的一个旨在帮助“有严重行为和社交技能障碍”儿童的项目。

她告诉电视台：“我认为这对我的儿子来说太好了，他需要的帮助能够得到专业老师的指导。”

周五，嫌疑人的母亲在阳台上接受了CNN的简短采访，但未进行镜头拍摄。她说没有任何预兆，并拒绝透露儿子是如何获得枪支的。

“我很抱歉，我真希望我能做点什么。我对他们的损失感到难过，”她告诉CNN。

密歇根州克伦布利一家和佐治亚州科林·格雷所受的刑事案件都涉及类似的指控：枪支未妥善保管和父母疏忽大意。

在每起案例中，父母都为十几岁的儿子购买了枪支作为圣诞礼物，却没有妥善保管。据称，这些父母还明知儿子有心理健康问题，会对他人构成威胁，但却没有采取适当的措施，例如安排他接受心理咨询或治疗。

检察官认为父母的行为构成“刑事过失”，陪审团也同意了这一观点。

艾比·卡特勒/《亚特兰大宪法报》/美联社

科林·格雷的谋杀罪定罪对拥有枪支的父母意味着什么？

例如，在格雷的审判中，警方在校园枪击案发生前一年曾到访他的住所，调查一起网上威胁要枪击学校的事件。科尔特·格雷否认发布过该威胁，执法部门最终也未能证实该线索的真实性。

科林·格雷在那年晚些时候给他儿子买了一支AR-15式步枪。他作证说，他有时允许儿子把步枪放在卧室里，还把其他武器和弹药随意地放在房子各处。

他的辩护律师称，他尽力帮助儿子，但对儿子的暴力计划毫不知情。但检方则认为​​，他购买枪支并无视可能危及他人的警告，属于疏忽行为。

“这是一场关于被告的行为、选择和责任的审判，”巴罗县地方检察官布拉德·史密斯说。

就俄勒冈州这起案件而言，目前疑问远多于答案。这名16岁的少年是如何获得枪支弹药的？他的父母对儿子的精神健康问题以及他可能对他人构成的威胁了解多少？此前是否出现过任何预警信号？他身边的人又采取了哪些措施？

法律专家表示，仅仅为孩子购买枪支本身并不违法。

“就购买行为本身而言，它未必是不正当的，”前芝加哥检察官兼联邦调查局特工凯瑟琳·施韦特说。

麦凯布表示，调查人员将不仅仅关注购买记录。

他说：“他们需要证据，确凿的证据，证明家长明知未成年人处于弱势状态，却仍然让未成年人接触枪支，明知他们可能处于弱势地位。”

“这些事情事后都很难证实。所以我们只能看看调查结果如何了。”

CNN的约翰·米勒、尼克·瓦特、诺玛·加莱亚纳和阿拉·埃拉萨尔对本报道亦有贡献。