The firearm used in the tragic shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, was a legal purchase made by the shooter’s mother. This information comes from reliable sources speaking to CBS News.
The gun, a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, was given to the 16-year-old shooter, Griffin J. John II, by his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, as a birthday present in August 2026.
Shauntai Nickerson revealed in 2020 to a local TV station that her son had special needs and was having difficulties with remote learning during the pandemic. She expressed hope that returning to a physical classroom would provide him with the necessary support from skilled teachers.
Before the shooter entered the school, he fired at a passing pickup truck. The driver of this vehicle was the first to report the incident to 911. The shooter then breached the school’s entrance by firing through glass doors and continued into a classroom where he killed three children and a teacher.
The victims include children aged 5, 8, and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher named Megan Lambert. Police identified the youngest victim as Rhoam Summer. Information about the other children’s identities has not been publicly released.
Two other individuals, a 7-year-old girl and a 54-year-old teacher, sustained injuries during the attack. A memorial with flowers and candles has been set up at the school.
When the attack occurred, there were nine people in the classroom, including four adults and five children. A bystander, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, intervened by shooting the attacker. Giamanco, a local resident with children at the school, witnessed the initial shooting.
The suspect, a former student at Silver Rail Elementary, had no known motive for this act. Bend Police Department projects the completion of evidence collection at the school site soon and plans to hand the premises back to the school district.
Investigators are examining the shooter’s digital footprints, which include computer data, phone records, and social media activity, to gain further insights.
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