Teacher, 25, killed in Oregon shooting is identified as family reveal she was beloved for selfless act beyond the classroom

The teacher who died at the hands of a teenage mass murderer has been identified as a beloved 25-year-old who coached children's volleyball in her spare time.

Meghan Lambert, of Bend, died in the classroom when Griffin John II, 16, opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon.

As well as 25-year-old Lambert, three children aged five, eight, and 11 were slaughtered in the bloodshed that occurred at the shooter's old school. 

Lambert was remembered by her family on Friday as having a passion for sports and an ambition for teaching. 

She 'lit up the room' and was 'compassionate' with a 'huge heart,' her family said.

That was exemplified when Lambert turned down pay for her first season as a volleyball coach so that families ‘who couldn’t afford to participate could have the chance to play the sport she loved,’ according to her family’s statement.

Lambert's family emphasized that she was funny, opinionated, 'fought for the underdog' and 'those with special needs.'

'Meg loved those children,' the family said.

Lambert’s goal was to be an educator and teach in the school district she ‘loved growing up in,’ her family said.  

Her first job as a teacher was at Silver Rail Elementary, according to her family, though she had been a substitute teacher there 'for many years.'

'She loved Silver Rail,' the statement from Lambert's family continued. 'This was her dream job.'

Lambert graduated from Boise State University in 2023 after being part of the class of 2019 at Mountain View High School. 

'She was an incredible sister, daughter, niece and granddaughter,' the statement said. 'Her friends became her family.'

Griffin John II also critically wounded a 54-year-old teacher and shot a seven-year-old child who uses a wheelchair in the face, both of whom are still in hospital. 

The twisted teen fired as many as 15 shots during his rampage and had 44 left when he was shot dead, police said.

John fired on everyone inside a special education class, where he himself was a student when he attended the school as a young child.

He was so hell-bent on targeting his former class that, when he was fired upon when he tried to enter the front door, he ran around to the back entrance, police said.

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.

He first threw the Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action shotgun over the fence before jumping over, but found himself blocked from entering.

John was fired upon by hero dad Kalub Giamanco, who would later shoot the teen dead, and blocked by another bystander's van that he riddled with bullets.

Instead of giving up, he ran to the back entrance and blasted his way through a 'safety vestibule' system designed to keep children at the school safe from school shooters.

The school resource officer was not at the school at the time of the shooting, authorities said. They said the officer oversees around six other buildings and was at a nearby school.

Police were unsure how John was able to get his ammunition, stating the investigation was still 'very active.' 

Five weeks before he went on his shooting rampage, the teenage mass killer stared at a camera with a murderous gaze.

John was gangly with a patchy mustache and goatee and looked sullen in a haunting photo posted by his mother Shauntai Nickerson last month.

Nickerson told a TV station in 2020 that she was pleased students were going back to the classroom as her son was struggling with distance learning during Covid lockdowns.

'I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,' she told KTVZ 21. 

'And 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.'

The future murderer was in the NEST (Nurturing Empathy Safety and Trust) program, which helped special education students 'experiencing intensive behavioral and social skills challenges'.

The first victim of the shooting was named as five-year-old Rhoam Summer. 

Summer's teacher was identified as Lambert, while the other child victims were not named out of respect for the victims' families, Bend police said at a press conference on Friday. 

John used his mother's shotgun to carry out the massacre, which police said was bought about the time of his 16th birthday.

Nickerson, 43, a medical aide at Touchmark Living Centers, has a long list of traffic violations and was charged with DUI at 1.37am on July 29, 2018, by local police in Bend.

She was also convicted of harassment in 2023 with a second charge of fourth-degree assault from the same incident dismissed.

Nickerson insisted to reporters who confronted her outside her home in Bend that her son was 'a good boy' and she would have stopped him if she could. John's motive is unknown. 

Police raided his family's home on Thursday night, seizing computers and other electronic devices. Family was said to be cooperative.

Giamanco's wife Kelsey and brother Kyle, along with several of his friends, confirmed he was the hero who intervened by running inside the school.

He holds a concealed carry permit and is friends with the family of the seven-year-old in the wheelchair who was wounded.