Bend School Shooter's Mother Breaks Down on Camera Days After Oregon Elementary School Attack That Killed 3 Children and a Teacher

Days after a teenage gunman killed three children and a teacher at an Oregon elementary school, his mother has broken her silence as police search for an answer that remains frustratingly out of reach.

Investigators are digging into 16-year-old Griffin J. John II's past, his connection to Silver Rail Elementary School, and evidence recovered after the October 15 attack.

But amid the unanswered questions surrounding what drove Griffin back to his former school, his mother has now delivered a message directly to the families whose loved ones never came home.

Police Are Still Searching for Why

The bloodshed unfolded at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, October 15, 2026. Griffin, a former student, forced his way inside and opened fire in a special education classroom before armed parent Kaylub Giamanco followed him into the school and shot him dead.

Three children, ages five, eight, and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert were killed. Another child and teacher were wounded. Authorities identified one of the young victims as five-year-old Rhoam Summer.

The names of the other two boys will not be released at their families' request, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said. All four victims who died were inside the special education classroom, which served children of mixed ages, according to Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook.

Yet days after the killings, one of the biggest questions surrounding the attack remains unanswered: Why did Griffin do it? Police confirmed Friday that Griffin had previously attended Silver Rail but was no longer enrolled in Bend-La Pine Schools.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the teenager had no known previous juvenile criminal history. That leaves investigators trying to reconstruct what happened before Griffin arrived at the school and what may have led him there.

Krantz acknowledged at a Friday briefing that finding the answer could prove extraordinarily difficult. "I think that's one of the most challenging parts of these types of investigations and cases is determining 'why' in the motives," he said.

Krantz said the search for that answer would require substantial investigative time. More starkly, he warned that investigators may never know the full reason behind the attack.

Griffin's parents were interviewed Thursday and cooperated with investigators, according to a law enforcement official cited by CNN. Electronic devices seized from the teenager's home are also being analyzed as investigators hunt for clues.

No clear motive has been publicly established. There is, however, one part of Griffin's past that puts his return to Silver Rail under an even sharper spotlight.

Griffin Had Once Needed Help at the Same School

Griffin was not simply a former Silver Rail student. Cook said the teenager had previously been a special needs student at the school — and the shooting took place inside its special education classroom.

His history there had been documented publicly years before the attack. Back in 2020, when Griffin was 10 years old, his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, spoke to KTVZ NewsChannel 21 about her son's education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffin was enrolled in the school's NEST program, short for Nurturing Empathy, Safety and Trust. The High Desert Education Service District worked with Bend-La Pine Schools to operate the program for students experiencing intensive behavioral and social skill challenges.

At the time, families were preparing for special needs students to resume some in-person instruction after months of pandemic disruption. NEST students were due to attend classes for two hours and 45 minutes each day, working on academic and social skills.

The program had six students from kindergarten through second grade and four from third through fifth grade. Their learning space had also been transformed for the pandemic, with car-designed desks separated by Plexiglas dividers.

Students and staff were required to wear masks and practice proper hand-washing. For Nickerson, her son's return to that classroom could not come soon enough.

She told the station that Griffin had struggled while learning from home and said she was glad he could once again receive help from trained educators. Nickerson explained that she was not certified to teach a special needs student and believed Griffin needed the support skilled teachers could provide.

That interview was recorded six years before Griffin returned to Silver Rail under drastically different circumstances. Police now believe the special education classroom was targeted in the shooting.

But they have not publicly established why Griffin chose it. And while detectives sift through the teenager's devices and history for an answer, his mother has now spoken again. This time, she was addressing the aftermath of four deaths.

His Mother Has a Message for the Victims' Families

Nickerson spoke to CNN from her balcony in the days after the shooting. She remained off camera while speaking to the outlet and was crying and smoking a cigarette.

Nickerson would not discuss how Griffin gained access to the weapon, an issue investigators said remained under investigation. Instead, she spoke briefly about her son. "I miss my boy. I'm so sorry," Nickerson said.

Then came her message for the families of those killed. "I'm so sorry, I wish I could have done something. I'm sorry for their loss." Her words came as investigators continued trying to piece together Griffin's movements and determine what led to the attack.

Both of his parents had already been interviewed and were cooperating, authorities said. Investigators were also examining electronic devices seized from the family home as they pursued the question at the center of the case.

Griffin's history confirms that he once received specialized support at Silver Rail. Police also believe that years later, he returned and targeted the special education classroom. What authorities still cannot say is why.

And Griffin's mother is not the only parent whose words have emerged from the devastating events inside Silver Rail. As she spoke about her son and apologized to the families of his victims, another mother was trying to help her own son live with what happened after he ran toward the gunfire.

Kaylub Giamanco was heading home for lunch on Thursday, October 15, 2026, when he encountered the attack at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon.

Now his mother, Kenda Freeman, is sharing how the attacker unwittingly helped her son reach a classroom where a teacher was fighting for the children, and the painful confession that the hero made after it was all over.

His Children Were at School When He Saw the Danger

For Kaylub, Silver Rail was already a deeply personal place. His two children attended the school, and on that Thursday, the 36-year-old contractor was nearby when a teenager carrying a shotgun climbed over its chain-link fence.

A man outside in a red truck spotted the boy and shouted at him. The teenager responded by shooting at the truck at least three times, Bend Police Department Chief Mike Krantz said during a news conference the following day.

The driver called 911. Kaylub, who saw the shots being fired, drove toward the school as the armed teenager ran toward the building, according to KVUE. His children were somewhere inside.

He had a legally stored .40-caliber pistol in his vehicle, and his mother said he pulled onto the grass, grabbed it, and pursued the gunman.

Kaylub had grown up hunting and had been familiar with firearms for much of his life. Kenda said he legally owned and carried his weapon because he wanted a way to protect his family.

Originally from Placerville, about a 45-minute drive northeast of Sacramento, he spent over three decades residing in Oregon. The community now under attack was the place where he had built his life.

Ahead of him, the teenager shot through the glass at the school's front entrance. Just inside, immediately to the left, was a classroom serving children with special needs. The gunman entered that room. Kaylub followed him toward the broken glass.

The Opening He Left Behind Let a Father Follow

Speaking exclusively with CBS News, Kenda explained how her son got into the building. "He crawled through a window that the gunman had shot out," she said. "He army crawled through the window."

The glass the attacker had destroyed gave Kaylub a way to reach him. But inside the classroom, someone else had already put herself between the gunman and the children.

A teacher threw her phone at the teenager and tackled him, Chief Krantz said. As other teachers hid with students in nearby rooms, she wrestled with him for control of the shotgun.

That was the struggle Kaylub encountered when he entered. Police said he shot the teenager several times, killing him and stopping the attack in full. The teacher who fought the gunman was not injured. Police credited her, Kaylub, and the truck driver with helping prevent further bloodshed.

"When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that," the police chief said. He also praised the father's decision to park and follow an armed attacker into the building, saying his intervention undoubtedly saved people.

"We all recognize that is true heroism," he continued.

Yet the classroom had already suffered terrible losses. Three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert had been killed; another child and another teacher were wounded.

Police identified the gunman as Griffin J. John II, a 16-year-old former Silver Rail student. On Friday, October 16, they said they believed he had targeted the classroom, although investigators were still working to establish his motive.

Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Griffin's mother had purchased the shotgun. Police said he fired as many as 15 rounds during the classroom attack. Kaylub had survived the confrontation. Soon afterward, he called his mother in Sacramento.

The Call That Brought the Horror Home

Kenda remembered her son's opening words: "Mom, I just shot and killed somebody." She asked him to tell her what had happened.

"A man went into my daughter's school and shot kids," he explained, according to her recollection.

For the mother on the other end of that call, the person describing the confrontation was the son she knew as a loving father. She spoke about his character with the tenderness of someone desperate for others to understand the person behind the headlines.

"Kaylub has a genuine heart and he loves his community and his family and his children," she said. "He's just a good person, in general." Both of his children survived. But Kenda said her son was traumatized, and the family's attention was on helping him process what he had experienced.

Beyond their family, others were beginning their own agonizing wait. Two people had been taken to hospitals, and a community already grieving four deaths was holding on to every hopeful update. One of those patients was a little girl many local teenagers already knew and loved.

Bend's Teenagers Already Had a Reason to Root for Her

Saylor Graham was just 7 years old, with a fondness for "Bluey," a love of being around other children, and a particularly special place in her heart for her brother.

She also had a connection to students at Bend High School through Sparrow Clubs, which brings young people together to help children with medical needs through community service and kindness.

According to the Associated Press, via ABC News, Saylor has a genetic disorder, usually uses a wheelchair, and is nonverbal. She connects with others using her eye movements alongside a digital tablet.

After the shooting, Saylor was taken to a Portland hospital. Police said Friday that she had been critically wounded but was stable, and she remained hospitalized on Saturday, October 17.

Her family stayed beside her as the practical pressures of a hospital stay began mounting. Both parents are self-employed, and caring for her medical needs has severely limited their ability to work.

Trisa Lovejoy organized a recovery fundraiser on behalf of her Saylor's mother, Danielle Graham, to help with medical bills, lodging, transportation, and time away from work. The appeal had reached over $450,000 toward a $650,000 goal, with approximately 9,000 donations.

People were finding a way to help the little girl who had already brought so much encouragement to others. In Bend, another hospital patient was receiving that same outpouring of love.

Now Her Community Was Showing Up for Ms. Becky

Becky Drury, 54, was recovering from gunshot wounds to her arm and hand. Family friend Zack Hall, acting as her family's spokesperson, said she hoped to go home soon. To the school community, she was Ms. Becky, a teacher whose care had made children feel loved.

As she healed, supporters wanted her and her husband, Will Drury, to feel that care coming back. Annie Moseley created a healing fundraiser to help them with upcoming expenses. It had raised over $80,000 toward $90,000, drawing approximately 1,300 donations, as of this publication.

The message accompanying the appeal thanked Becky for showing up for every student, every day. Her supporters promised to remain beside her family through the days ahead.

Outside Silver Rail on Saturday, flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons gathered at a memorial. Parents and teachers came to pray and cry, carrying relief for the survivors alongside grief for the families who had lost someone.

Savannah Patton, whose children attend first and fourth grades there, sat on the grass wiping away tears. Megan, the teacher who died, had substituted in her daughter's class the previous year.

Now Savannah was trying to answer a question from that same child. "Mommy, why would someone want to take a gun and kill us at school?" She did not know what to tell her.

Megan Had Wanted More Children to Have Their Chance

Megan's family said teaching had been her dream job. She also coached volleyball, and the generosity her students knew extended to the players who depended on her.

Heidi Wood, director of the Central Oregon Volleyball Club, recalled that Megan had refused her coaching pay during her first year. She wanted the money used for scholarships so children who could not afford to play would have the opportunity.

Even her paycheck became something she could give to a child. In a social media tribute, Heidi addressed the gunman directly. "To the shooter, she would have given you the shirt off her back," she wrote. "But you didn't give her a chance."

Heidi promised that Megan's name would not be forgotten.

Devon Johnson, a volleyball coach at High Desert Middle School whose husband teaches at Bend High School, visited the memorial Saturday. Their work had connected them with many Silver Rail staff members.

"I'm so glad to see that Bend is rallying and just wrapping their arms around this community, but it's going to take a long time to get through this," she said.

For Kaylub, that long aftermath had already begun. While neighbors and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised his bravery, his mother was hearing the thoughts he could not put aside.

She Called Him a Hero. He Was Thinking About His Regret.

Kenda told her son she was proud of him. She assured him that he had done the right thing and saved lives. His answer was heartbreaking.

"Mom, I couldn't save them all."

She said he was struggling with what he remembered when he closed his eyes, asking himself whether he could have acted differently or done more. Kenda was carrying her own painful mixture of gratitude and grief.

Her grandchildren were safe, while other families had lost the children they expected to bring home. "My heart goes out to those families that didn't get to bring their babies home," she said tearfully.

Her plea to others was simple: "Hug your babies, love your neighbors."

Kaylub had risked his life to reach those children. Now his mother was trying to help him believe that the lives he saved still mattered, even as he grieved the ones he could not.