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The Oregon school shooter went to extreme lengths to carry out his evil carnage and make his way to his target: his former special-needs classroom, law-enforcement sources told The Post on Friday.
John J. Griffin II, 16, first threw his Maverick 88, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, over the fence at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend around 1 p.m. Thursday and hopped over himself, sources aid.
The gun-toting young madman then tried to enter through the school’s front door but was blocked by two bystanders, including a dad of two little girls at the school who noticed the property breach while driving by on his way home for lunch, sources said.
Follow for live updates on the mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon
The man opened fire on Griffin with a concealed weapon he was carrying, thwarting the teen’s attempt to go in the front, sources said.
Refusing to give up, Griffin ran around to the school’s back door and blew off its lock — which was designed to prevent such tragedies, sources said.
He entered the school and headed straight for his former special-needs classroom and opened fire, killing three students, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher, while also injuring a 7-year-old in a wheelchair and a 54-year-old teacher before being gunned down by the gun-toting dad who had spotted him out front.
Griffin’s weapon had been legally purchased by his mother Shauntai Nickerson around the time of his August birthday, sources said.
Nickerson was seen on the porch of her second-story home by reporters Friday smoking a cigarette and crying.
“I’m sorry … I miss him,” Nickerson reportedly said, adding that the suspected killer was “a good boy, he really was.”
Here’s the latest on the elementary school shooting in Oregon:
- The extreme measures Oregon shooter took to enter the school — and why he targeted special-ed room
- First photos of Oregon school shooter John Griffin revealed
- Sobbing mom of Oregon shooter John Griffin insists son was ‘good boy’ after killing 4 at school
- 7-year-old in wheelchair critical after being shot in face by Oregon gunman: report
She did not discuss her purchase of the murder weapon but said, “If I could have prevented this, I would have.”
Griffin’s special-education history had been documented in a KTVZ report from 2020 that quoted his mother discussing his troubles with remote learning during the pandemic.
“I think it will be great for Griffin [to return to the classroom] because I am not certified teaching a special-needs student,” Nickerson told the outlet.