Meghan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher who was killed in the Oregon school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, has been remembered as a compassionate educator who coached children’s volleyball and fought for those in need.
Lambert died when 16-year-old Griffin John II opened fire at the school on Thursday afternoon. Three children, aged five, eight and 11, were also killed, while a teacher and a seven-year-old child remain in hospital.
Her family said Lambert had a “huge heart”, was funny and opinionated, and “lit up the room”. They said she “fought for the underdog” and for people with special needs.
Lambert had declined payment for her first season coaching volleyball so that families who could not afford to take part could play the sport she loved.
“Meg loved those children,” her family said.
She had worked as a substitute teacher at Silver Rail for many years before taking up her first permanent teaching post there. Her ambition had been to teach in the school district where she had grown up.
“She loved Silver Rail,” her family said. “This was her dream job.”
Lambert graduated from Boise State University in 2023, having previously attended Mountain View High School. Her family described her as “an incredible sister, daughter, niece and granddaughter”, adding: “Her friends became her family.”
Investigation into the Bend school shooting
Police said John fired as many as 15 shots and had 44 rounds remaining when he was shot dead. He targeted a special education classroom where he had been a pupil when he attended the school as a young child.
John was not enrolled at a Bend public school at the time and had travelled to Silver Rail on foot. Police said he initially tried to enter through the front of the school but ran to the rear entrance after shots were fired at him.
He forced his way through a safety vestibule designed to protect pupils from school shooters, authorities said. Police are still investigating how he obtained his ammunition and said the case remained “very active”.
John was shot dead by Kalub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father with two children at the school, who heard gunfire while driving home during his lunch break. His wife, brother and friends said he had run into the school to intervene.
Lambert’s family thanked Mr Giamanco, saying he had “selflessly put [himself] at risk for others”.
“We know he is going through a rough time but we are grateful and we think he is a hero,” they said.
The school resource officer was not at Silver Rail when the shooting took place, authorities said. The officer oversees about six buildings and was at a nearby school at the time.
John’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, said outside the family home that her son was “a good boy” and that she would have stopped him if she could. His motive remains unknown.
Police searched the family’s home on Thursday night and seized computers and other electronic devices. The family was described as co-operative.
Five-year-old Rhoam Summer was the first child victim to be publicly identified. Police said the other children’s names would not be released out of respect for their families.
