BEND: The teenage gunman who killed three children and a teacher at an Oregon school was a former special needs student there, officials said on Friday, as they praised the bravery of those who helped bring the attack to an end.
The first alarm was raised by a driver who challenged the gunman, identified as 16-year-old Griffin John II, as he climbed a fence to approach Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday, police told a press conference.
As officers rushed to the scene, John forced his way through locked doors using a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun before heading straight to the school’s special needs classroom.
He opened fire in the room, killing five-year-old Rhoam Summer, two boys aged eight and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert.
Another young child and a teacher were injured in the attack, while a third teacher threw her mobile phone at John and attempted to wrest the shotgun from him, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told reporters.
At that point, a man identified by his family as Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father of two girls at the school, rushed in with his legally owned firearm.
“He heard shooting and saw a teacher involved in a physical altercation with the suspect… and fired his weapon, striking the suspect multiple times,” Krantz said.
“When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognise that. The teacher who is willing to stand and fight for her children… incredible.
“That is true heroism, and we don’t see that a lot in society.”
Giamanco’s mother told a local Fox affiliate that she was “very proud” of her son, describing him as “an absolute hero”.
US President Donald Trump also praised Giamanco.
“It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” he told reporters.
Gun violence
On Friday, the streets of Bend were quiet. The area is known for its natural beauty, with nearby hiking trails and ski slopes attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Kristen Vanetsky, 52, told AFP she was in shock.
“My grandson should be in his classroom, with all of his friends,” she said.
“Everybody should be in there learning, having fun, looking forward to their weekend, and it’s just vacant,” she said. “There’s nothing. Even the birds are not here.”
As the city struggled to come to terms with the tragedy, the familiar debate that follows school shootings in the United States began to take shape.
The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) praised the actions of the armed bystander.
“Yesterday’s terrible act of violence in Oregon serves as another reminder of the importance of a law-abiding armed citizenry,” the NRA said in a post on X.
The NRA has spent millions of dollars campaigning for gun rights and supporting politicians who oppose restrictions on gun ownership, which polls suggest are supported by a large majority of Americans.
Gun control advocates lamented the widespread availability of firearms in a country where gun-related deaths far outnumber those in most other developed nations.
“America’s gun violence crisis is killing our babies. Enough is enough,” gun-control group GIFFORDS said.
More than 360 mass shootings have been recorded across the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines such incidents as cases in which at least four people are shot, excluding the gunman.
Loner
Officials provided few details about the suspect, saying only that he had previously attended Silver Rail Elementary as a special needs student and was not enrolled in the local public school system at the time of the attack.
John’s neighbours told AFP that he was unsociable and appeared to go out only with his mother, who lived in the same modest home a few minutes from the school.
“He was a real loner,” said one man, who asked not to be named.
“I always saw him in black, looking very serious and hunched over. He wouldn’t say good morning or good evening.”
On Friday, the boy’s mother, identified by media reports as Shauntai May Nickerson, smoked a cigarette on the porch outside her apartment.
“If I could have prevented this, I would have,” she said, according to The New York Times.