BREAKING | 16-Year-Old Former Student Identified as Gunman Who Killed 3 Children and a Teacher at Bend Elementary School

Author: FFP Ai Bot

BEND, Ore. — Police in Bend, Oregon, have identified the gunman in Thursday’s deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former student of the school, and say he was shot and killed by a father who followed him inside.

Three children, boys ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher were killed in the attack on Thursday, Oct. 15, the Bend Police Department said. A 7-year-old girl and a 54-year-old teacher were wounded. All of the victims were shot in the same classroom, police said. The teen suspect also died at the scene, bringing the death toll to five.

Bend police released the suspect’s name, Griffin J. John II, in an update on the investigation. Because he died at the scene, no one has been charged in the case.

What police say happened

According to an update from the Bend Police Department released Friday, Oct. 16, the first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. Pacific time (3:59 p.m. Eastern) from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone with a long gun. Dispatchers then received dozens of calls reporting that a shooter had entered the school on SE Stone Creek Lane in southeast Bend. Officers ordered the school into lockdown at 1:01 p.m., and the first officers arrived at 1:02 p.m.

Police said that at about 12:58 p.m., the suspect approached the fenced rear of the school, threw his weapon over the fence and climbed onto school property. The driver of a pickup truck saw him and confronted him verbally, police said, and the teen fired at the truck, hitting it at least three times. That driver continued down the street and made the first 911 call.

A second driver, a 36-year-old man whose children attend the school, also saw the shooting and pulled into the school parking lot, police said. The suspect then fired through the glass of an exterior set of double doors to force his way inside and went directly into the classroom immediately to the left of the entrance. Police said he fired as many as 15 rounds in all, using 12-gauge birdshot, buckshot and slugs.

The 36-year-old father took a .40-caliber pistol that police said was legally secured in his vehicle, entered through the forced-open doors, saw a teacher in a physical struggle with the suspect and fired, striking him multiple times. The Associated Press identified the father as Kaylub Giamanco.

Police also credited a teacher in the classroom who threw her cellphone at the suspect, then tackled him and fought to take the gun away. She was not injured. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called her actions “heroic” at a Friday news conference, the AP reported.

Officers found a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and a backpack near the suspect, police said. He had about 44 more rounds of ammunition on him or in the backpack.

Video: “Teenage suspect identified in deadly Bend school shooting,” KIRO 7 News on YouTube.

The victims

Police identified the teacher who was killed as Megan Lambert, 25, of Bend. Her family said in a statement released through police that Silver Rail was her first teaching job and “her dream job,” and that she “always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.” The family also thanked the bystander who intervened, saying, “we are grateful and we think he is a hero.”

The families of two of the children who were killed have asked that their children not be identified. The Fostoria Free Press is not publishing the names of any of the child victims.

Police said the wounded 7-year-old girl is at OHSU in Portland in serious but stable condition. The wounded teacher, identified with her family’s permission as Becky Drury of Bend, is at St. Charles Bend with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The suspect

Krantz said John previously attended Silver Rail Elementary and was not currently enrolled in Bend-La Pine Schools. Superintendent Steven Cook told reporters the teen had been a special needs student at the school and that all of the victims were in a special needs classroom, NBC News reported. Police believe he walked to the school, though the route is still under investigation.

Krantz said a motive has not been determined, ABC News reported. How the suspect obtained the shotgun and ammunition “remains part of the active criminal investigation,” police said. Investigators have executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home, and interviews are ongoing.

The investigation

The Tri-County Major Incident Team is leading the investigation, with roughly 150 law enforcement and first-responder personnel involved, including the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police, Oregon State Police, the FBI and the ATF, police said. Investigators expect to hold the school as a crime scene until at least Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Police are asking anyone with home or vehicle video recorded between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Pacific time on Oct. 15, in the area between Third Street and Brosterhous Road or near the school, to check it for a teenage male about 6 feet tall and 140 pounds wearing black pants, a black T-shirt and a black backpack. The FBI has set up a tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI and an online tip page at FBI.gov/silverrailschool.

Schools and state response

Bend-La Pine Schools said all of its schools will stay closed to students Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20, with students returning Wednesday, Oct. 21, on the early-release schedule. Silver Rail Elementary will remain closed until further notice, and counselors and a heightened law enforcement presence will be in place, the district said on its Silver Rail community information page.

“We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy,” Cook said in a statement Thursday. “No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Thursday that the Oregon Department of Emergency Management is coordinating state agencies to support the community. “My heart is absolutely broken,” Kotek said. She also thanked the community member who intervened, saying, “your actions carry a heavy emotional burden.”

Thousands of people gathered Thursday night at a vigil in Bend’s Drake Park, Krantz said. “That is what community looks like,” he said.

This is a developing story. The Fostoria Free Press will update it as officials release more information.

#BendOregon #SchoolShooting #SilverRail #BreakingNews

Sources

• Bend Police Department via FlashAlert: UPDATE: Active shooter incident at Silver Rail Elementary School (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://flashalert.net/id/bendpolice
• FBI: Silver Rail Elementary School tip page – https://www.fbi.gov/silverrailschool
• Bend-La Pine Schools: Silver Rail Community Information Hub – https://www.blschools.org/news/silver-rail-community-information-hub
• Office of Gov. Tina Kotek statement, via Central Oregon Daily News (Oct. 15, 2026) – https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news/local/kotek-statement-on-tragedy-at-silver-rail-elementary-in-bend/article_30802166-3ac0-488e-8ccf-60609d04d49a.html
• Associated Press: Teacher threw phone, tackled gunman before father shot him at Oregon elementary school (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://apnews.com/article/oregon-school-shooting-silver-rail-elementary-989180ae6e9aa2ed6a4239c8e3423085
• NBC News: Oregon school shooter was 16-year-old former student (updated Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-school-shooter-identified-16-year-old-john-griffin-ii-whose-mot-rcna603908
• ABC News: What we know about teen gunman who police say opened fire at Bend, Oregon school (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://abcnews.com/US/teen-gunman-police-opened-fire-bend-oregon-school/story?id=137326656
• NPR: Suspect in deadly Oregon elementary school shooting was a former student (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.npr.org/2026/10/17/nx-s1-6006236/suspect-in-deadly-oregon-elementary-school-shooting-was-a-former-student
• OPB: New details emerge in Bend school shooting (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/17/bend-school-shooting-day2-opb-first-look/
• KPTV FOX 12: 2 victims still hospitalized after Bend school shooting (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kptv.com/2026/10/17/2-victims-still-hospitalized-after-bend-school-shooting/
• The Source Weekly: Bend-La Pine Schools closed through Tuesday (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.bendsource.com/news/localnews/bend-la-pine-schools-closed-through-tuesday-as-community-grieves-shooting-deaths/
• YouTube, KIRO 7 News: Teenage suspect identified in deadly Bend school shooting – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x865uMKx_Y