Police records have revealed that Griffin John II, the 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, had previously been assaulted twice and had endured a troubled home life.
John also injured two people during the October 15 shooting before he was fatally shot by Kaylub Giamanco, a father whose two daughters attended the school. Authorities are still trying to establish what motivated the attack.
The victims were five-year-old Rhoam Summer, teacher Megan Lambert and two other special-needs pupils who have not been publicly identified.
Earlier assaults described in police reports
When John was 11, his mother told police that a friend of his sister had attacked him at the family home. She said the person slapped him across the face, chipping one of his teeth, and punched him four to six times in the back of the head.
John told officers that the confrontation began when the friend asked whether he wanted to fight. His sister later found him crying and upset, saying that he was being bullied at school.
“John expressed concerns about reporting the bullying at school because his mom would get upset,” an officer wrote in the report.
His mother told police that John had special needs. The officer recorded that he appeared to have a cognitive disability, referring to his non-verbal communication and speech patterns.
Police tried to contact the alleged attacker, but the telephone numbers connected with the person were no longer in service. A second officer also went to the home but was unable to speak to them.
In 2025, John was allegedly attacked again during a confrontation involving a former partner of his mother. The man arrived at the family’s flat after arguing with John’s mother and forcing his way inside, according to another police report.
John said the man threatened to assault both him and his mother. He told officers he intervened because he did not want his mother to be hurt.
The man allegedly shoved John twice, then body-slammed him to the ground and punched him in the head between 12 and 14 times. He fled after learning that police had been called.
John and his mother later decided not to co-operate with the investigation or pursue charges, saying the matter had been resolved.
Mother faced separate assault allegations
Court records also show that John’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, was accused of assault in two separate incidents in Deschutes County.
In January 2023, police alleged that Nickerson and her then-19-year-old daughter, Ariel Swan, followed a woman in a white sports utility vehicle after an argument linked to Nickerson’s former boyfriend.
The report said Nickerson drove behind the woman down an alley and tried to run her over before shouting abuse from the vehicle. Nickerson and Swan then allegedly got out and attacked the woman.
The alleged victim denied having had a relationship with Nickerson’s former partner and said she did not know the two women. A bystander told officers that Nickerson and Swan had “definitely assaulted” her and had “definitely hunted her down”.
Swan was arrested and charged with harassment and attempted fourth-degree assault. Nickerson was not arrested in connection with that incident.
Less than two months later, Nickerson was charged with assault and harassment involving another woman. She pleaded guilty to harassment in October 2023, while prosecutors later dismissed the assault charge, saying there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
Despite the allegations, Nickerson was able to buy a Mossberg Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun for her son. The weapon was registered in her name.
Father confronted Silver Rail gunman
John used the shotgun when he forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School and fired 15 rounds.
Giamanco was driving home during his lunch break when he saw John firing at a red vehicle. He then watched the teenager throw the shotgun over a fence and head towards the school.
One of Giamanco’s daughters was inside. He called emergency services, but ended the call before answering all the dispatcher’s questions.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go in. People are going to die,” he told the dispatcher.
Giamanco said he crawled alongside the school windows and heard children pleading for their lives before gunfire began. He followed John inside and found him struggling with a teacher.
The father opened the classroom door and fired at John. After the teacher escaped, Giamanco saw the gunman reaching for his weapon and shot him twice more because he feared he would kill someone else.
“I can’t tell you what it feels like to take a life,” Giamanco said. “It’s really not how I thought my Thursday was going to go.”
He later telephoned his wife to tell her he would not be coming home for lunch and that she needed to go to the school. He also called his mother and broke down as he described having killed a child whom he believed posed a danger to his daughters.
