A 36-year-old parent carrying a pistol ended the attack at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, fatally shooting a 16-year-old gunman who had already killed three children and a 25-year-old teacher, authorities said. A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher remain in critical condition.
Police identified the shooter as Griffin J. John II, a former student at the school. The children killed were 5, 8 and 11 years old.
The Attack
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz described the sequence at a Friday news conference. Around 1 p.m., John climbed over the campus fence and fired at a witness in a pickup truck who confronted him verbally. He then shot through the glass panes of an external set of double doors, entered the building and fired multiple rounds into a classroom with students of mixed ages.
A teacher tried to disarm him. Then the parent fired, stopping the shooting.
John carried a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, Krantz said. He used birdshot, buckshot and slugs, and had about 44 rounds of ammunition left when the parent stopped him. The fence, locked doors and glass didn't hold him back for long. It took ordinary people—a witness, a teacher and an armed parent—to confront him.
The Weapon and the Law
A senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN that John's mother had purchased the gun. Oregon law doesn't allow a 16-year-old to buy a shotgun. It does permit possession if a parent transferred or provided the weapon, and it allows temporary possession for hunting, target practice or shooting sports.
Authorities said they're still investigating how John got the shotgun on Thursday. His mother wouldn't discuss it when she spoke to CNN off camera from her balcony. “I miss my boy. I'm so sorry,” she said, crying. She told the victims’ families, “I wish I could have done something. I'm sorry for their loss.” She also told CNN, “He was a good boy,” and said there had been no warning signs before the shooting.
Investigators are now testing that last claim. Police are examining possible mental health concerns or warning signs. John had previously attended special needs classes at Silver Rail, though officials couldn't confirm whether he had been in the specific classroom that came under fire. The program serves children with “intensive behavioral and social skills challenges.”
The Investigation
The shooter's parents spoke with investigators on Thursday and cooperated, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. Authorities searched the family home that day and recovered computers and other electronic devices. Investigators obtained additional warrants to pull data from them. Local investigators and the FBI planned to examine the devices for evidence that could explain the attack.
A law enforcement source said interviews so far have produced no clear motive.
Krantz was candid about what police may not find. “Everyone wants to know why, including us,” he said. He cautioned that finding what led to the attack would take time. “We may never get that full answer, but we want it.”
Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said the district would investigate its emergency response procedures, safety planning and other aspects of the shooting once law enforcement allows it.
A Mother's Hopes, Six Years Ago
The family's history with the school came to light in a 2020 interview. During the pandemic, John's mother told CNN affiliate KTVZ she hoped in-person classes for children with special needs would resume. She works as a health aide at a local nursing home and said her then-10-year-old son had struggled with remote learning and looked forward to returning to school in 2020.
“I think it will be great for my son to get the help that he needs from the skilled teachers that he needs to get it from,” she said then.
Why This Matters:
The facts so far raise questions that no single new statute is likely to answer. A teenager barred by law from buying a shotgun still had one, through a legal channel that lets parents provide firearms to minors. Whether his parent exercised that responsibility carefully is exactly what investigators are trying to establish, and it deserves a full accounting before lawmakers act. The district's promised review of its emergency procedures will test whether local institutions can learn from failure on their own terms. Bend also shows how quickly a determined attacker can defeat physical barriers, and how much depended on the people who happened to be there. Policymakers weighing any response will need to ask what might have reached this teenager before Thursday, not just what might have stopped him once he arrived.
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