Megan Lambert’s family broke their silence Friday to honor the 25-year-old teacher gunned down inside a Bend, Oregon elementary school.
The volleyball coach was one of four victims killed Thursday when 16-year-old Griffin John opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School. Lambert grew up in Bend and had returned to her Central Oregon hometown to work with young students.
“To tell you about who Megan was would take 25 years,” her relatives said in a statement delivered at a Friday press conference. “She had a passion for sports, a passion for volleyball. She was a volleyball coach. She turned down extra pay as a coach so that families who couldn’t afford to participate could play the sport.”
The family, speaking through the Bend Police Department, painted a portrait of a young woman devoted to inclusion and advocacy. “Megan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog, especially those with special needs. She was an incredible sister, daughter, niece, and granddaughter. She was funny, opinionated, and lit up the room.”
Lambert died alongside three students — ages 5, 8 and 11 — in a special education classroom where the violence unfolded. The massacre ended when bystander Kaylub Giamanco intervened and fatally shot the teenage attacker.
Her relatives extended sympathy to the man who stopped the rampage, acknowledging the weight he now carries. “We know that the bystander is going through a rough time, but we are grateful, and we think that he is a hero.”
The shooting rocked the Central Oregon community where Lambert had spent her entire life. She had built a reputation not only as an educator but as an athletic mentor who prioritized access over income, subsidizing participation costs out of her own pocket so no child would be excluded from volleyball.
The slain students have not been publicly identified. Authorities have not released a motive for the attack by Griffin John, who previously attended the school where he carried out the killings.
The Bend Police Department continues to investigate the circumstances that led to the deadliest school shooting in Oregon since 2015.