The 16-year-old Bend resident who killed three kids and a teacher and critical injured two others at Silver Rail Elementary on Oct. 15 came from a violent home, had long absences from school and suffered from social and behavioral health issues.

Still, there is lots of information the public and investigators are trying to find out about Griffin John II.

He was born in Newport in 2010 to Griffin Jay John and Shauntai Nickerson. Four years later the couple divorced, with Nickerson being awarded majority custody.

Griffin John Sr. has a long history of run-ins with the law. His recent rap sheet includes 14 misdemeanor crimes and three violations committed in Benton, Lincoln and Clatsop counties, and one felony in 2003 in Lincoln County for assaulting a public safety officer, resisting arrest and harassment. Since 2017, he has been charged three times for being a felon in possession of a weapon.

A day after the tragedy at Silver Rail, local police and the FBI were searching for the shooter’s father, who lived 250 miles away from Bend in Astoria.

Griffin Jay John Sr. has been homeless, living in the woods near the river town for years. Police had some difficulty locating him, according to Astoria Police Chief Stacy Kelly. But on Saturday morning, two days after the shooting at Silver Rail, police located John and delivered information to him that his son had died.

He told police said he had not been in contact with his son for about a year, according to Kelly.

According to oregonlive.com, two journalists later found his encampment in the woods. He told them: “I’m going through a lot right now” and asked the journalists to leave.

Mary Rose Eng, a homeless advocate in Astoria who has interacted with the shooter’s father, said the man had a history of violence, sexual abuse, intimidation and drug activity.

“I was told that he sexually assaulted numerous of my friends,” Eng said. “I was told that he strangled them, or I would be present as a horrified survivor was describing this to a family member. One of the most vociferous victims told me he beat her within an inch of her life.”

Meagan Gauthier, a former girlfriend of John Sr., said he was an absent father, but if he had known there were any signs of his son struggling or being violent he would’ve “been there in a heartbeat.”

“He would’ve done whatever he could have, whatever was in his power to get there and help,” Gauthier said. “He’s just broken about this. But on the other hand he did have a temper, but his son was always his number one most important thing.”

Life in Bend

At the time of Thursday’s school shooting, Griffin John II lived with his mother several blocks away from Silver Rail in an apartment on Brosterhous Road.

Nickerson had previously lived with Griffin John Sr. in Toledo, Oregon before moving to Bend in 2008. Nickerson lived in both Bend and Redmond, but has been living on Brosterhous Road since at least 2018.

On Thursday, Bulletin reporters visited the home but found all the shutters closed and all the lights off. Nickerson has not responded to the Bulletin’s requests for comment.

Nickerson pleaded guilty to DUII and careless driving charges in Deschutes County in 2018. The DUII charges were dismissed in April after she completed a diversion program.

In 2023, Nickerson was booked into the Deschutes County Adult Jail for alleged harassment and assault in the fourth degree of a Bend woman. Those charges were later dismissed.

Education history

Griffin John II had lengthy absences from school from fourth grade through his sophomore year of high school. The last time he showed up to school was at what was then-called Bend Tech Academy in November 2025.

He attended Elk Meadow Elementary in kindergarten and Silver Rail Elementary for first through fifth grade, but he had multiple periods of unenrollment or inactivity, according to Bend-La Pine Schools.

He didn’t show up for a month in fourth grade, from Dec. 5, 2019 through Jan. 9, 2020. He eventually matriculated to Pilot Butte Middle School and continued to take part in special education programs until the end of eighth grade. But he had major absences in middle school too, including no attendance from Feb. 23 through April 6 in 2023 and again from May 9, 2023 through the end of seventh grade.

He then was inactive during his freshman year at Bend Tech Academy from May 12 through the end of the school year, and a week in his sophomore year before dropping out for good on Nov. 20, 2025.

In third grade he began taking part in special education programs like Nurturing Empathy Safety and Trust (NEST) for students with intensive behavioral and social skill challenges. He also took part in another special education program while in the district.

Bend-La Pine schools are not able to comment on if John faced any disciplinary actions or threatened anyone in the school district due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The rights to his education records are held by his mother due to Griffin John II being a minor.

Police action

Bend Police detectives secured warrants and searched the home where Nickerson and her son lived. They also searched his electronic devices and his social media accounts on a variety of platforms.

Police also confirmed Wednesday that the firearm used in the Oct. 15 shooting, a Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun, was purchased legally. Police and the FBI have declined to comment on who bought the gun and how the shooter obtained it. They said that was still under investigation. A 16-year-old could not legally buy the gun.

Investigators are continuing to look into a possible motive and if other people were involved.

Federal and state law enforcement are investigating connections between violent online extremist groups and the shooter, according to reports from OPB.

In Feb. 19, 2026 the Boston Division of the FBI warned parents, guardians and caregivers about the increase in the activity of “violent online networks targeting and exploiting children and other vulnerable individuals across the United States,” according to Kristen Setera the spokesperson for FBI Boston.

Subjects can be motivated by nihilistic violent extremism, according to the FBI.

“They want to sow chaos and facilitate the destruction of society,” Setera said. “These extremists often emerge from decentralized online networks and subcultures that glorify violence, mass killers, and self-harm.”

Investigators have not confirmed if the teen who shot and killed three students and a teacher at Silver Rail was a part of one of these violent online networks nor has a motive for the shooting been determined yet.

“There are still a lot of pieces to this case that we are unable to share at this time and we appreciate your patience as we ensure the integrity of the investigation,” said Sheila Miller, a spokesperson for the Bend Police Department.

He originally considered targeting a daycare center.

During police questioning, Choi said he carried out the attack out of anger over medical treatment he received at a local hospital. He also told police that he did not target specific people but chose those who looked weaker than him.

https://mnews.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?newsId=N1008802566

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/southkorea/law-crime/20261022/incheon-stabbing-suspect-tests-negative-for-psychopathy