John J. Griffin II has been publicly photographed for the first time since the Oregon elementary school shooting that left four dead.
The 16-year-old gunman appears sullen and glaring in a Facebook image his mother, Shauntai May Nickerson, posted on Sept. 10 — barely five weeks before he opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday. In the photo, the mustachioed teen wears an oversized hoodie alongside Nickerson in front of a waterfall.
Nickerson and Griffin were previously featured in a 2020 news article about students returning to classrooms in the Bend-La Pine School District’s NEST program, which serves children with intensive behavioral and social skills challenges. At that time, Griffin was 10 years old, and his mother spoke about his struggles with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,” Nickerson told NewsChannel10 in 2020. “And I think it will be great for my son to get the help that he needs from the skilled teachers that he needs to get it from.”
The same child who once needed that specialized support became Thursday’s assailant. Griffin arrived at Silver Rail Elementary armed with a Maverick 88, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that law enforcement sources said was allegedly purchased by his mother. He shot at the school’s locked doors to force his way inside and headed directly toward the special education classroom where he had once been a student himself.
Carpenter and father Kaylub Giamanco was driving home for his lunch break when he spotted Griffin entering the building with the weapon. Giamanco intervened and fatally shot the teen, ending the rampage. The heroic bystander’s actions prevented further casualties after Griffin had already killed three students — ages 5, 8, and 11 — and a teacher.
The violence also left two survivors in critical condition: a 7-year-old student who was shot in the face and uses a wheelchair, and a 54-year-old teacher. Both were receiving medical treatment following the attack.
Griffin had previously attended the same school where he carried out the shooting, giving him intimate knowledge of the building’s layout and the location of the special-needs classroom he targeted. The connection between his own educational history and his chosen point of attack has drawn particular attention as investigators continue examining the circumstances that led to the tragedy.
The Sept. 10 Facebook photo now carries an unsettling weight — a routine social media moment preserved weeks before its teenage subject would commit mass violence. Nickerson’s 2020 remarks about seeking skilled professional help for her son have taken on additional resonance in light of subsequent events, though no direct line has been established between his special education needs and the shooting.
Law enforcement sources continue investigating how Griffin obtained access to the shotgun and what warning signs, if any, preceded the attack. The role of parental firearm storage and purchase decisions has emerged as a central question in the early stages of the inquiry.
The Bend community has begun mourning the victims while grappling with how a former student turned against the institution that once provided him specialized care. Memorials and support services have been organized for the families affected by the deadliest school shooting in Oregon since 2015.
The 7-year-old survivor and the wounded teacher remained hospitalized as of Friday as medical teams worked to address their injuries. Their conditions were described as critical in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.