School Shooting in Bend, Ore., Has Heroes and Pain, But Few Answers
New York Times · LC · trust 60/100
The city of Bend, Ore., is praising those who worked to stop the gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School. The authorities are searching for answers.
Anna Griffin and Aaron West reported from Bend, Ore.
As the makeshift memorial in front of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., grew Friday, with donations of flowers, stuffed animals and candles, police and school officials began offering a clearer picture of how the attack unfolded — and how much worse it could have been.
They identified the shooter as Griffin J. John II, a former special education student at Silver Rail who lived with his mother, Shauntai May Nickerson, a half-mile away from the school. He carried a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that was registered to Ms. Nickerson, according to a law enforcement official who was granted anonymity to discuss details of the case.
The teenager approached the school on foot a little before 1 p.m. Thursday — picture day at Silver Rail — from an undeveloped and partially wooded lot on the side of the 11-year-old building, which featured modern school safety features at the front entrance.
A man in a red pickup truck was driving by and saw the teenager throw his shotgun over the fence and start to climb it, the police said. The driver “verbally confronted” the gunman, who paused to open fire at him, pelting the truck with shots. The man was not injured.
A vehicle belonging to a bystander who fatally shot the teenage gunman remained in a cordoned-off area outside Silver Rail Elementary School. Credit... David Ryder/Reuters We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
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