A father of two Silver Rail students, Kaylub Giamanco, followed him into the building and shot him dead.
Police say the 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, was a former special-needs student there. He went after a special-education classroom. The Washington Post and New York Post name him John J. Griffin II. PBS gives the name in a different order.
The victims. The children killed were 5, 8 and 11. The teacher, Megan Lambert, was 25. “She loved Silver Rail. This was her dream job,” her family said. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher are critically injured.
The school. The first 911 call, at 12:59 p.m. local time, came from a driver who said they had been shot at. The school resource officer (a police officer assigned to schools) covers six to seven schools. The officer was not at Silver Rail that day.
The gun. Investigators believe the teen's mother, Shauntai Nickerson, bought the shotgun. “If I could have prevented this, I would have,” she said.
The politics. “When are we going to practice that same bravery that that bystander had?” asked Janelle Bynum (Rep-D Oregon). Aidan Johnston of Gun Owners of America said: “What did stop the mass murderer and save lives was an armed bystander with good aim.” ([TS]Per the police chief, the classroom shooting had already happened and a teacher was wrestling him when Giamanco fired.)
Still open. Police Chief Mike Krantz says how the teen came to have the shotgun is still under investigation. About 150 people, including the FBI, ATF and Oregon State Police, are working the case.
Catch up
A gunman killed three children and an adult at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, Oct. 15. The first 911 call came at 12:59 p.m., officers arrived at 1:02 and the shooter was down shortly after, but police had not said who killed him.