The motive remains unclear six days after a deadly school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, as investigators continue to process the crime scene and families weigh whether to send their children back to class. Three students, ages 5, 8 and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert were killed on October 15 when 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former special education student at the school, broke in and fired at least 15 rounds into a special education classroom, according to Bend police and the Associated Press.
Seven-year-old Saylor Graham and 54-year-old educational assistant Becky Drury were seriously wounded and remain hospitalized. Police said the shooting was stopped after a teacher tackled the suspect for control of the weapon, and a father of two students at the school, Kaylub Giamanco, then entered the building and fatally shot the teenager. Police and school officials said the two men are believed to have saved many lives.
The shooter used a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun that had been purchased legally by his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, earlier this year, according to sources who spoke with CBS News, reportedly given to the teenager as a birthday gift for recreational use in August 2026. He carried about 44 additional rounds of ammunition. Investigators interviewed the shooter's parents, who were cooperative, and executed a search warrant at the family home, with the FBI working to extract data from recovered computers and electronics to determine whether a digital trail preceded the attack.
Verified fundraising pages for the victims have raised more than $1.5 million combined, the AP reported. Bend-La Pine Schools remained closed to students Monday and Tuesday, while Silver Rail Elementary will remain closed until further notice. Some families are choosing to return to other schools while carrying fear with them, even as parents demand accountability and more lasting safety measures at the school board's next meeting.