Teen suspect identified, bystander hailed as hero in Oregon school shooting

The shooter suspected of firing his way into a special education class at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school on Thursday and killing four people before being shot by a bystander has been identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, authorities said Friday.

The shooting unfolded just before 1 p.m. Thursday at Silver Rail Elementary School, leaving three children and an adult dead.

A teacher and three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, were killed in the shooting, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. A 7-year-old child and another teacher were being treated at hospitals for injuries.

Two of the victims were identified as 5-year-old Rhoam Summer and 25-year-old Megan Lambert, Krantz said Friday.

Authorities have praised the actions of the bystander as heroic; police said he followed the shooter inside and fatally shot the suspect. The bystander was identified by family members to multiple news outlets as Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a parent at the school.

Another hero was a teacher who threw her cellphone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take away his firearm, Krantz said.

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John, the suspect, was previously a special education student at Silver Rail Elementary. He appeared to travel on foot to the school before jumping a fence and firing his way through a door and entering the classroom near the entry door.

'Thank God we had him': Hero stops active shooter at elementary school

The shooting is the 28th mass killing of the year in the United States, of which 21 are shootings, according to James Alan Fox of the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database.

Father whose kids attend Silver Rail school followed shooter inside

A 36-year-old man who has children who attend the elementary school witnessed the initial incident in which the teen assailant shot at the red pickup truck, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. 

That man, identified by family members to multiple news outlets Friday as Kaylub Giamanco, drove his vehicle into the elementary school parking lot, according to Krantz. He retrieved a pistol that was legally secured in his vehicle and went into the school, the police chief added.

The man entered the school, heard shooting and saw a teacher struggling with the shooter, Krantz said.

"He then went to the classroom where the struggle was underway and fired his weapon, striking the suspect multiple times," according to Krantz.

'Everyone wants to know why, including us'

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said that while his officers are urgently investigating why the suspect shot his way into the school and opened fire, they have not ascertained a specific motive.

“That classroom was a special needs classroom, and the suspect was a special needs student in that school,” Krantz said at the afternoon news conference.

But beyond that, Krantz declined to respond to a question about motive, citing the ongoing investigation.

“Your question is relevant in that everyone wants to know why, including us,” Krantz said. “And I think that's one of the most challenging parts of these types of investigations and cases is determining the why and the motives.”

“And that is part of the current, very active, as I said, open investigation that we're working on, and it will require substantial investigative time to continue that,” Krantz added. “But that is the answer we're seeking as well.”

“And as I said before, we may never get that full answer,” Krantz said, “but we want it.”

Family confirms identity of injured teacher

Educational assistant Rebecca “Becky” Drury was injured in the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary school and is recovering in hospital, a family spokesman confirmed to USA TODAY on Friday.

“She has significant injuries, they’re serious and she’s had more surgery but she’s ok,” said Zack Hall, a family friend who said he has spoken with Drury’s husband, Will. “The injuries are non-life threatening.”

Becky is communicating with family members, Hall said. He said he has not talked with the family about the shooting itself, and could not offer any further details about what occurred.

Hall also sent USA TODAY a statement from Will Drury:

“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support, prayers, and well-wishes following yesterday’s tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary. The kindness and concern shown to our family and everyone affected mean more than we can express. We live in a truly special community.

"Right now, our focus is on my wife, Becky, and her recovery, and on supporting our family through an unimaginably difficult time. We respectfully ask for privacy and space as we navigate the days ahead. Thank you for understanding. 

"Please continue to hold everyone affected by this tragedy in your thoughts.”

Suspect used 12-gauge pump-action shotgun

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said that arriving officers at the scene located a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun near the suspect, as well as a backpack.

In total, the suspect had approximately 44 remaining rounds of 12-gauge ammunition on his person or in his backpack, the chief said, adding that the department is investigating all aspects of what led to the shooting and how it transpired.

ATF special agents from its Eugene and Portland Field Offices are providing “urgent tracing of the suspect’s firearm and are remaining on scene to provide both NIBIN and general investigate support,” Anna Schmidt, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives in Seattle, told USA TODAY.  

NIBIN is the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a specialized federal database operated by ATF that digitizes and compares unique markings on spent cartridge cases to link firearms-related crimes.

Shooter fired at pickup truck before entering school, police say

Before entering the school, the teenage gunman, Griffin J. John II, approached the fence around the school, threw his weapon over the fence, and climbed over it onto the school property, Police Chief Mike Krantz said.

A driver of a red Toyota pickup truck saw John do that and verbally confronted him, at which point John shot at the pickup truck, striking it at least three times, Krantz said.

The driver of the pickup truck continued down the street and made the initial emergency call to 911, Krantz added.

Names of some victims released, including 5-year-old boy

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said one of the victims was a 5-year-old boy, Rhoam Summer. Krantz said he was releasing Summer's name at the request of the boy's families, but wouldn't be releasing the names of the other child victims at the request of their families.

The slain teacher was 25-year-old Megan Lambert, Krantz said.

16-year-old suspect was Griffin J. John II

The 16-year-old who killed three children and one teacher, and critically injured another child and an adult, was Griffin J. John II, Chief Mike Krantz of the Bend Police Department in Oregon announced at the press conference.

The teenager was killed at the scene, police have previously said.

NRA highlights bystander with gun

The National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm on Friday praised the actions of the bystander with a firearm, who authorities said stopped the school shooter.

“Yesterday’s terrible act of violence in Oregon serves as another reminder of the importance of law-abiding armed citizenry,” the NRA Institute for Legislative Action said. “When the attack began, it was a member of the community with a firearm who intervened and stopped the shooter before he could do more harm.”

President Donald Trump also said the bystander’s actions prevented the situation from being worse, calling him a “man that had a gun and knew how to use it.”ere

Trump hails armed bystander as 'great hero'

Trump praised the bystander who confronted and killed the gunman at Silver Rails Elementary, calling him a “great hero.”

“He took care of business, and thank God we had him, otherwise it would have been much worse,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Oct. 16.

“It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” he added.

Family identifies parent who shot teen gunman

The man who fatally shot the teen gunman was identified by family as Kaylub Giamanco, NBC News and CBS News reported.

Kyle Giamanco told NBC that his 36-year-old brother, a carpenter with two girls who attend Silver Rail Elementary, was "driving home for his lunch break" and heard gunshots before he saw the gunman enter the school.

'It's devastating': Neighbors visit memorial outside elementary school

A steady stream of neighbors and parents on Oct. 16 dropped off flowers and plush animals at a makeshift memorial outside Silver Rails Elementary. Among them was Michelle McAuliffe, who lives only a few blocks from the school.

McAuliffe told the Statesman Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that she heard sirens shortly after the shooting reportedly began. They were “squealing” from every direction. She recalled thinking: I hope nothing happened at the school.

McAuliffe said she left her home and couldn’t bring herself to return late into the evening. In the morning, she was walking with her neighbor past the memorial outside the taped-off campus.

“Now, I’m just mad,” she said. “Something needs to change.”

Kaitlyn Irvine also joined, dropping off a bouquet of white flowers at the memorial. She’s a La Pine resident who previously lived in Bend for three years. Irvine is a new mom, with a 5-month-old daughter at home.

“It's not your personal child, but it's like it's your child. And you grieve for the parents and the kids and the teacher,” Irvine said. “It’s devastating.”

ATF representative to attend Friday's news conference

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Anna Schmidt told USA TODAY that a representative from its agency will attend Friday's press conference to address the mass shooting.

Although Bend police remain the primary investigating agency on the case, Schmidt said special agents from ATF Eugene and Portland field offices "self-initiated a response" to the school Thursday.

Responding agents provided "urgent tracing of the suspect’s firearm and are remaining on scene" to provide investigative support, Schmidt said.

How did the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School unfold?

Authorities say the first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. local time, reporting that someone had shot into a car near the school. At 1 p.m., dispatchers alerted officers to respond to a critical incident, Krantz said. Police arrived by 1:02 p.m. and dozens of emergency calls followed.

Krantz said the shooter had a "long gun" and shot his way into the school through locked doors. A bystander who saw the suspect enter the school followed the attacker inside and engaged him in gunfire, Krantz said. The shooter was dead when police arrived.

Authorities have not publicly identified the bystander, who many have called a hero.

The police chief did not describe the shooter's firearm or how the suspect obtained it. Oregon has passed a series of laws restricting firearms in recent years and ranks 12th in the country for gun laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a prominent gun violence prevention group.

'They were so afraid': Teacher recalls moments after gunfire erupted

Kathy Sheil Smith, a fifth-grade teacher at Silver Rail Elementary, said she saw the gunman from her classroom window and notified the school's office. She moved her students into a corner of the classroom and tried to keep them calm.

“They were so afraid. The looks on their faces was really hard to see,” she told Fox 12 KPTV. “Some kids were praying, some kids were consoling other kids.”

Smith praised the bystander who pursued the gunman and stopped the attack.

“That person saw something,” she told the outlet. “They did something, and that took its own courage. I’m just grateful that that person was able to apprehend the suspect.”

Flags ordered to half-staff in honor of school shooting victims

Kotek ordered that all flags at Oregon public institutions be flown at half-staff in remembrance of those killed in the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.

"This is a horrible day," she said at a news conference after the attack. "No parent should have this day. No community should live through this day."

Kotek said she had visited the school almost exactly a year ago.

"I spent time with educators and community members calling parents to thank them for the great progress their kids were making in attending school. I heard the joy and excitement about their school," the governor said, adding, "My heart is absolutely broken."

'Stunned and heartbroken'

Bend has a population of roughly 107,000 and sits along the Deschutes River in central Oregon, about 165 miles southeast of Portland.

Silver Rail Elementary School served about 500 students from kindergarten through fifth grade last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education.

In a statement to multiple news outlets after the shooting, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said the district is "stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy."

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the families and to everyone affected by this violence," he added. "No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing."