Oregon school shooter John Griffin II targeted his former special-needs classroom using his mother's shotgun, police reveal

John Griffin II, a 16-year-old former student, forced his way through locked doors at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon on Thursday, killing three children aged 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher, before being shot dead by parent Kaylub Giamanco. Griffin had used a Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun that his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, had bought legally around his August birthday. Police chief Mike Krantz confirmed the teen discharged up to 15 shots and still had around 44 rounds on him when he was killed, and that every victim was shot inside the same special education classroom Griffin had once attended.

Griffin was tackled and had a phone thrown at him by a teacher — acts police chief Krantz described as 'heroic' — in actions that likely saved lives before Giamanco shot him dead.

Giamanco, a carpenter whose two daughters attended the school, was driving home for lunch when he spotted Griffin climbing the fence and went in after him.

Nickerson, sobbing outside her apartment, told reporters her son 'was a good boy, he really was' and said 'if I could have prevented this, I would have.'