The 16-year-old boy who killed three children and a teacher, injuring two others, at a school in Bend, Oregon, was attacked twice in recent years, once while trying to defend his mother, police records show.
In one incident, he told his sister that he had been bullied at school, according to police, who wrote that he “probably suffered from a cognitive disability.”
Griffin John II opened fire on a special education classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15 before being killed by a man who had two daughters at the school.
Much about John remains unknown and law enforcement is still investigating him and any potential motive. But police reports show he was abused from a young age.
Court and police records previously obtained by NBC News described a tumultuous family life, with both parents involved in violent confrontations and run-ins with law enforcement, as well as financial instability.
When he was 11, his sister’s friend molested him in his home, according to allegations contained in a Bend police report first obtained by NBC affiliate KGW.
John’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, told police during the 2022 incident that the friend “slapped John in the face, causing him to knock out a tooth,” according to the report. The friend also “hit John in the back of the head,” according to the report.
Nickerson told police that John “had special needs,” and the officer wrote that it appeared he had a cognitive disability, given his “nonverbal vocal communication and speech patterns.”
John told the officer that after he returned home, his sister’s friend asked him if he wanted to fight and then slapped him, knocking out one of his teeth, according to the report. The officer noticed a small chip on one of John’s lower front teeth, according to the report. John then said the friend “hit him in the back of the head 4 to 6 times,” according to the release.
John’s sister told the officer that when she came home earlier, John was upset and crying because, according to him, he was being bullied at school.
“John expressed concerns about reporting the bullying to the school because his mother would be upset,” the officer wrote.
The officer said he tried to contact the friend, but all the numbers associated with the friend were disconnected or no longer in service. Another officer then went to the home and was also unable to speak with the friend, according to the report.
A little more than three years later, in 2025, John was punched multiple times by a man Nickerson had a relationship with, according to a Bend police report. The man ran away when Nickerson called 911, she told police.
Nickerson said she argued with the man over his involvement with other women when she placed all of his belongings outside his apartment. The man then entered the apartment, knocked on the front door and eventually managed to gain entry, according to the police report.
John told police the man threatened to beat him and his mother, according to the police report.
The domestic dispute turned physical when, John said, he tried to defend his mother when the man refused to leave the apartment, Nickerson told police.
The man “started getting violent and I didn’t want him to hurt my mother at all,” John told police.
John said he told the man he had to leave and the man shoved him twice, causing him to drop his phone. When John went to get his phone, the man “slammed” him to the ground, wrapping his arm around his head and neck, according to the report.
The man then hit John in the head about 12 to 14 times, John told the officer. The man left after learning police would be on their way, according to the report.
Nickerson and John ultimately decided they did not want to cooperate with an investigation or press charges, saying the matter had been resolved, according to the report.
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