The 16-year-old boy who killed three children and a teacher, injuring two other people, at a school in Bend, Oregon, was assaulted twice in recent years, once while he was trying to defend his mother, police records show.
In one incident, he told his sister he had been bullied at school, according to police, who wrote that he “likely had a cognitive disability.”
Griffin John II opened fire on a special-needs classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15 before he was killed by a man who has two daughters at the school.
Much about John remains unknown, and law enforcement is still investigating him and any potential motive. But the police reports show he experienced violence at a young age.
Court and police records previously obtained by NBC News detailed a tumultuous home life, with both parents being involved in violent encounters and run-ins with law enforcement, as well as financial instability.
At age 11, his sister’s friend assaulted him at his home, according to allegations in a Bend police report first obtained by NBC affiliate KGW.
John’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, told police in the 2022 incident that the friend “slapped John across the face, causing him to chip a tooth,” according to the report. The friend also “punched 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 “non verbal speech communication and speech patterns.”
John told the officer that after he came home, his sister’s friend asked him whether he wanted to fight and then slapped him, chipping his tooth, 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 “punched him in the back of the head 4 to 6 times,” it said.
John’s sister told the officer that when she got home earlier, John was upset and crying because, he said, he was being bullied at school.
“John expressed concerns about reporting the bullying at school because his mom would get upset,” the officer wrote.
The officer said that he tried to contact the friend but that all of the numbers associated with the friend were disconnected or no longer in service. Another officer later 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 fled when Nickerson called 911, she told police.
Nickerson said she had been arguing with the man about his involvement with other women when she placed all of his belongings outside her apartment. The man then came to the apartment, banged on the front door and eventually forced himself inside, according to the police report.
John told police that the man threatened to beat him and his mother up, according to the police report.
The domestic dispute turned physical when, John said, he tried to stand up for his mother as the man refused to leave the apartment, Nickerson told police.
The man “began to get violent, and I didn’t want him to hurt my mom at all,” John told police.
John said that he told the man he needed to leave and that the man shoved him twice, which made him drop his phone. When John went to pick up his phone, the man “bodyslammed” him to the ground, wrapping his arm around his head and neck, according to the report.
The man then punched John in the head about 12 to 14 times, John told the officer. The man left after he learned police would be on their way, according to the report.
Nickerson and John ultimately decided they did not want to cooperate in an investigation and pursue charges, saying the matter had been resolved, according to the report.
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