BEND, United States – The teenager suspected of carrying out a murderous rampage at an Oregon elementary school came off as “withdrawn”, according to neighbours who lived in the building where the young man resided with his mother.
“He was a real loner,” said a neighbour who spoke to AFP anonymously over fears of repercussions. “I always saw him in black, looking very serious and hunched over. He wouldn’t say good morning or good evening.”
“He seemed very withdrawn.”
The young man, identified by police as Griffin J. John II, entered Silver Rail Elementary in the city of Bend at approximately 1pm local time on Oct 15, opening fire in a special needs classroom and killing three children ages five, eight and 11, as well as a teacher.
Police said John had once been a special needs student at the elementary school, though at the time of the shooting he was not enrolled in any school within the Bend district’s system.
The gunman too was shot dead by an armed bystander, Kaylub Giamanco, who pursued the assailant after he happened to be passing by the scene when he heard gunshots.
Neighbours did not identify the shooter by name, but recognised him from images posted to the social media accounts of his mother, Shauntai Nickerson.
“She seemed to work a lot,” commented another neighbour, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’d see her leaving in a work apron.”
Those interviewed all said the mother and son kept to themselves and that he rarely went out. When he did, it was always with her.
Neighbours noted the family of two was reserved and unsociable, but that their behaviour was never alarming.
They never saw weapons, and did not hear arguments coming from the apartment on the second floor of the small building, just minutes away by foot from Silver Rail Elementary.
“They were very discreet, the apartment was always quiet, as if no one lived there. They would come and go very quickly,” added a neighbour.
The news that John had carried out a mass shooting at an elementary school thus came as a shock.
“We never imagined they were armed,” said one of the people interviewed. “It’s very worrying, because this building has wooden walls. He could’ve fired a gun here, and who knows what might have happened.”
“We are in shock.”
‘Hard to accept’
A neighbour said police initially arrived at the residential building approximately one hour after the shooting.
They returned a bit later in the afternoon to interview residents: “They told us they were investigating someone who lived here, but they didn’t say anything else.”
One neighbour said they witnessed Nickerson with police.
“She was crying a lot, but we didn’t know what had happened” at that point, the person told AFP.
“It’s hard to accept that a neighbour could do something like that.”
The apartment where the suspect lived was quiet, with the balcony curtains drawn.
The tragedy has heightened community concerns, the neighbours said, because it forced one to realise “that you don’t know who you are living next to”.
One neighbour said he was opposed to gun ownership, and that learning he shared a building with someone who was armed did not change his mind.
More guns are not a solution, he said.
“This needs to be addressed in a different way,” the neighbour said. “As a society, we should look at where we are failing our children, and what we can do to keep a closer eye on them and what they’re doing.”
“News like this always leaves you feeling empty. It’s very sad for all the families involved.” AFP