By Staff Reporter
BEND, Ore. — The teenager who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday got past two of the barriers schools count on. He climbed a perimeter fence, then shot his way through a pair of locked glass double doors, police said Friday.
The attack ended when a father of two Silver Rail students followed him inside and shot him dead.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz laid out the timeline at a Friday afternoon news conference, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. He identified the attacker as Griffin J. John II, 16, a former student at the school. Chief Krantz said the teenager fired as many as 15 rounds from a pump-action shotgun and carried 44 more rounds on his body. All of the victims were found in a classroom near the doors where he entered.
Two bystanders, one teacher
The first person to confront the gunman was a motorist in a red pickup truck. The driver saw him climbing the fence with a shotgun, Chief Krantz said. The teenager fired at the truck and hit it at least three times. The driver, who was not identified and was not hurt, drove on and called 911.
A second passing driver turned into the school parking lot. His family has identified him as Kaylub Giamanco, 36, whose two children attend Silver Rail. Police said he took a legally owned .40-caliber handgun from his car, heard shots and went into the building through the shattered doors. Inside, he saw a teacher trying to wrestle the shotgun away from the attacker, and he opened fire, killing him.
Police said the teacher had first thrown her cellphone at the gunman and then grappled with him. She was not injured and has not been named.
“I don’t think we can underestimate or underappreciate that courage,” Chief Krantz said. “When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that.”
Mr. Giamanco’s mother, Kenda Freeman, confirmed his role on Friday, The Associated Press reported. Reading from a prepared statement to reporters outside his home near the school, she said, according to OPB: “He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel and community for the outpouring of love and support.”
The victims
Police identified the teacher who was killed as Megan Lambert, 25. She died in a special education classroom along with three students. Her family said she grew up in Bend and substitute-taught at Silver Rail for years before getting her first full-time teaching job there. She also coached volleyball.
“She loved Silver Rail,” her family said in a statement. “This was her dream job.”
The family also addressed the bystander directly. “We want the bystander who intervened to know we know he’s going through a rough time, but we are grateful and we think he’s a hero,” the statement said. “You selflessly put yourself at risk for others.”
One of the children killed was 5-year-old Rhoam Summer, his grandfather, Brad Jolly, told OPB. “He had a scooter he would run up and down the hallway of our house,” Mr. Jolly said. “We talked about many things. Read books together. He always gave me a big hug when he left.”
A second teacher, Becky Drury, 54, who works in special education, suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive, a family spokesman told OPB. A child was also hospitalized.
The questions investigators face
Officials have not offered a motive, and police have not said what connection, if any, the teenager had to the victims beyond being a former student.
The account police gave on Friday raises the questions school safety officials across the country are likely to study, including in Western New York. A fence and locked entry doors are the standard first lines of defense at elementary schools. In this case, neither kept the attacker out. Glass entryways like the one he shot through are common in school buildings.
How the 16-year-old got the gun is another open question. The AP, citing sources, reported that the shotgun had been bought by his mother. OPB said it had not been able to verify that independently, and police did not address it on Friday. Whether the weapon was stored securely, and whether anyone had raised warning signs about the teenager, are likely to be central questions as the investigation continues.
Mr. Jolly had little patience for the arguments already spreading online. “People are too anxious to jump on social media and make hay out of something like this, get their opinion in there,” he told OPB. Describing himself as a lifelong hunter, he added, “I own hunting weapons. I would never own a man-killing weapon.”
A community in mourning
Bend-La Pine Schools canceled classes districtwide on Friday. On Thursday night, hundreds of people gathered for a candlelit vigil at Drake Park, where Gov. Tina Kotek and the city’s mayor offered condolences, OPB reported. Some residents recalled the 2022 shooting at a Bend Safeway.
“You never think that something like this would happen in your hometown where you live,” Kyra Peterson, a local mother, told OPB at the vigil.
Bend police said more information would be released as the investigation continues. The Bend-La Pine school district and Deschutes County Behavioral Health Services have posted resources for families on the district’s Silver Rail information page.
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