Bend police name 16-year-old Griffin J. John II as Silver Rail shooter; teacher threw phone and tackled him

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz has officially identified the 16-year-old gunman who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School as Griffin J. John II, a former student, and described how a teacher who threw her mobile phone at the attacker and tackled him “almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed”.

Krantz told a press conference on Friday that John jumped a fence onto school property at about 12:58 p.m. local time on Thursday, was confronted by a bystander, and then shot at the man before firing his way through a side entrance with a shotgun. Inside the classroom he fired at least 15 rounds and had another 44 rounds on him, police said.

The teacher, whom Krantz did not name, threw her phone at John, tackled him and fought to wrest the shotgun from him. “She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed,” Krantz said. As they wrestled, Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a father of two pupils at the school, entered the classroom and shot the gunman dead.

The dead children were aged five, eight and 11; the five-year-old was identified as Rhoam Summer and the teacher as Megan Lambert, 25. Police arrived about three minutes after the first 911 call and found the shooter already dead.

Sources:

• USA Today (opened first-hand, 17 Oct 2026): https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/10/16/bend-oregon-deadly-school-shooting-timeline/92289279007/
• The Straits Times (Reuters wire, opened first-hand, 17 Oct 2026): https://www.straitstimes.com/world/teacher-tackled-and-fought-oregon-school-shooter