The Silver Rail Elementary School shooter in Bend, Oregon, has been identified as John J. Griffin, II, 16, and his mother insists he was a good boy. Griffin, armed with a shotgun, blasted the school's door locks to get in. He eventually killed a teacher and three young school kids before being neutralized by an armed bystander, Kaylub Giamanco, whose quick actions prevented further loss of life (via NY Post):
The weeping mother of the crazed teen gunman who carried out a mass shooting at an Oregon elementary school insisted her son was “a good boy” and that she would have tried to prevent the massacre if she could.
Shauntai May Nickerson, the mother of 16-year-old John J. Griffin II, waved off reporters on the porch of her apartment complex as she smoked a cigarette and cried, the New York Times reported.
The mother insisted Griffin — who killed three students and one teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday — was “a good boy, he really was” and said “I miss him.”
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something. I’m sorry for their loss,” she said, referring to the parents of those killed, according to CNN.
[…]
Three children, 5-year-old kindergartner Rhoam Summer, an 8-year-old, an 11-year-old, and one teacher were killed in Thursday’s shooting.
Lady, your son was a monster. No one cares about the past or whether he allegedly was a good kid. It’s how he checked out, and that comes with the labels of ‘child killer’ and ‘murderer.’
We’re not going to empathize with these people. And if she is trying to earn some sympathy because her son got put down like a dog, she’s barking up the wrong tree.
The NYT has more:
The man who cut short a deadly rampage at an Oregon elementary school by fatally shooting the 16-year-old attacker was the father of two students at the school. Officials had not yet identified the man on Friday, but family members, including his mother, confirmed his identity.
The man, Kaylub Giamanco, intervened on Thursday as the teenage assailant attacked Silver Rail Elementary School with a shotgun, blasting through locked doors and killing a teacher and three children, ages 5, 8 and 11. A 7-year-old and another teacher were critically injured.
Investigators have searched the home of the 16-year-old suspect, John J. Griffin II, according to a law enforcement official granted anonymity to discuss details of the case. His mother was cooperative, the official said, and investigators took the boy’s electronic devices under a search warrant. They believe the shooter used a weapon that belonged to his mother.
[…]
The bystander: Mr. Giamanco, the father whose quick action stopped the shooter, was on his lunch break near the school when he intervened on Thursday. On Friday, his white pickup sat where he had left it, right by the school’s playground.
The shooter: In a brief interview outside her apartment near the school, the shooter’s mother said she wasn’t sure how her son got the weapon used in the attack. A law enforcement official granted anonymity to discuss details of the case said it was a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun registered to his mother.
Shaken families: Parents of children who survived the attack said they were struggling to help their children manage feelings of trauma, fear and guilt.
Give Mr. Giamanco a medal. Also, a teacher reportedly threw her phone and tackled the shooter.
Legitimately also a heroic woman who probably saved lives and should be praised for her courage.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) October 16, 2026