{"id":9352,"date":"2026-10-17T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T01:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9352"},"modified":"2026-10-17T01:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T01:03:00","slug":"oregon-school-shooter-was-former-special-needs-student-police-say-gun-violence-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9352","title":{"rendered":"Oregon school shooter was former special needs student, police say | Gun Violence News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A teacher fought the teenage shooter and a parent shot him dead, police say on Friday, a day after four people were killed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 17 Oct 2026<\/span>17 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in the US state of Oregon was a former special-needs student at the school, police and school officials have said.<\/p>\n

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz identified the attacker on Friday, a day after the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, as Griffin J. John II.<\/p>\n

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He said the teenager attacked a classroom<\/a> of special-needs students, where all the victims were shot.<\/p>\n

Steven Cook, superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, said John was not enrolled in the local public school system at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat classroom was a special needs classroom, and the suspect was a special needs student in that school,\u201d Cook told a news conference.<\/p>\n

Krantz said John shot his way through locked doors with a 12-gauge shotgun, firing as many as 15 shots, and had about 44 rounds left when he was killed. Police are still trying to determine how he obtained the gun.<\/p>\n

Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or with a parent\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

The shooter\u2019s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, separately told reporters outside her apartment: \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, I wish I could have done something.\u201d<\/p>\n

A teacher threw her phone at the gunman, then tackled and fought him, likely saving lives, Krantz said, calling her actions \u201cheroic\u201d. She was not injured.<\/p>\n

A 36-year-old father, Kaylub Giamanco, who has two children at the school, then followed the gunman inside and shot him dead minutes after the first 911 call.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump called Giamanco a \u201cgreat hero\u201d. \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

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People mourn next to a cordoned-off area at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on October 16, 2026, the day after a shooting [David Ryder\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The children killed were aged five, eight and 11, and the teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25, police said.<\/p>\n

A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in critical condition.<\/p>\n

The shooting is the 28th mass killing in the US this year, according to a database by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.<\/p>\n

The Gun Violence Archive in the US has documented 369 mass shootings in 2026, defined as incidents in which four or more people are shot.<\/p>\n

The Everytown for Gun Safety group has counted at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds this year, with 34 deaths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A teacher fought the teenage shooter and a parent shot him dead, police say on Friday, a day after four people were killed. Published On 17 Oct 202617 Oct 2026 The 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in the US state of Oregon was a former special-needs student at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t