16-Year-Old Suspect Identified in Deadly Bend Elementary Shooting

WASHINGTON — Multiple media outlets, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the suspect in Thursday’s shooting at a Bend elementary school was 16 years old. The attack left three students and one teacher dead.

NBC News, the first outlet to report the suspect’s name, said investigators identified him as John J. Griffin, a 16-year-old Bend resident.

Sources also confirmed Griffin’s identity to CBS News, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other news organizations.

Police said the teenager used a long gun to shoot through the locks on the doors of the elementary school before entering and opening fire on students and teachers.

The attack killed three students and a teacher. Another student and another teacher suffered critical injuries.

At a news conference Thursday, Oct. 15, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said a bystander killed the shooter within minutes of his entering the school. The person had seen him go inside carrying a gun.

Krantz said a community member outside the school witnessed the shooter enter, followed him inside and shot him. Authorities have not released that person’s name.

Officers reached the school within five minutes, secured the building and evacuated students and staff.

“Unfortunately this is something we trained for on a regular basis,” Krantz said. “And we must.”

Police have not publicly released the shooter’s name or independently confirmed Griffin’s identity. Investigators are examining why the school was targeted and whether the teenager had any connection to it.

Authorities said the shooter used a long gun but did not identify the weapon or say how much ammunition was fired. The Associated Press, citing a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, reported that he used a pump-action shotgun purchased by his mother.

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NBC News confirmed some of those details, reporting that the gun was bought by Griffin’s mother around his birthday in August.

In Oregon, minors generally cannot legally own or purchase firearms, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. State law does permit minors to possess guns for certain purposes, including hunting and target practice.

What happened at the Bend elementary school?

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said first responders received a 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. from someone outside the school who reported being shot at by a person carrying a long gun.

Additional emergency calls came from inside the building, according to Bend police spokesperson Sheila Miller.

The Bend-La Pine school district said Silver Rail Elementary was placed on lockdown at 1:01 p.m.

Six people were shot—four students and two teachers. Three students and one teacher died, while the two surviving victims were taken to a nearby hospital.

Police arrived at 1:02 p.m. and found the gunman “down” inside the school, Miller said. She later clarified that he had been shot. Krantz said the shooter was shot by a community member who followed him into the building.

The students who died were 5, 8 and 11 years old. The fourth victim was an adult teacher. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Krantz said all the victims’ families had been notified.

None of their identities have been publicly released. 

What do we know about the bystander who killed the shooter? 

The suspected gunman was shot and killed by a community member who followed him into the school before law enforcement officials arrived, police said. 

The community member saw an armed teenager enter Silver Rail Elementary School Thursday afternoon. They then chased the shooter into the school and killed him, authorities said.

When police arrived at the school minutes after the shooting, they found the shooter already dead inside, Krantz said.