Bend School Shooting: Legal Shotgun Purchase Despite Prior Assault Accusations

A week after four people died at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, details have emerged about how the 16-year-old shooter obtained his weapon. Records reviewed by the Oregon Journalism Project indicate the 16-year-old used a loaded Mossberg Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun that belonged to his mother, Shauntai Nickerson. The firearm, which typically costs between $250 and $300, was legally purchased by Nickerson in August and registered in her name. Law enforcement officials have not disclosed the specific location of the purchase.

Oregon law permits 16- and 17-year-olds to possess rifles and shotguns if a parent or guardian provides them. The state bars the sale of firearms to anyone with a recent violent misdemeanor conviction, including assault, within the previous four years. Because Nickerson was accused of assault twice in 2023 but never convicted, this restriction did not apply to her purchase. A conviction in either case would have rendered the legal purchase illegal under state statute.

The first incident occurred in January 2023 outside a Taco Bell in Bend. A police report states that Nickerson, then 40, and her daughter Ariel Swan, then 19, assaulted a woman after Nickerson followed her down an alley in a white SUV and attempted to run her over. Nickerson yelled obscenities from her vehicle before both women exited to attack the victim. The pair told police the woman had slept with Nickerson's ex-boyfriend, a claim the victim denied. Swan was arrested and charged with harassment and attempted fourth-degree assault. Nickerson was not arrested or charged, though reports say she charged at officers during Swan's arrest.

In a second, unrelated incident less than two months later, Nickerson was charged with assault and harassment against a different woman in her early 40s. Court records note that Nickerson caused physical injury but provide no further police details. Nickerson pleaded guilty to the harassment charge in October 2023. Two weeks later, the office of Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels dismissed the assault charge. In a statement on October 23, the office explained that the prosecutor did not believe there was sufficient evidence to secure a conviction at trial.

Tung Yin, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, suggested the outcome likely represented a plea bargain designed to avoid a costly and unpredictable trial. He noted that prosecutors exercise wide discretion in charging decisions. Yin stated that because prosecutors cannot charge every crime, they must select which cases to pursue based on available resources and evidence.

Police have not discussed a motive for the shooting, although Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that investigators are examining possible links to extremist groups. The shooter was killed by a parent of two students at the school. Court records describe a chaotic childhood for the 16-year-old. His father, Griffin J. John, 47, is homeless in Astoria and has a felony conviction for assaulting a police officer along with other misdemeanor charges. Nickerson was a victim of domestic violence, and her then-boyfriend Kyle Duncan pleaded guilty to felony assault and coercion against her in 2014. Those convictions were vacated after he completed a deferred sentencing program.

Dr. Harold Schwartz, a psychiatry professor at the University of Connecticut, noted that many people share traits like isolation and anger without becoming violent. He identified the availability of the weapon as the single most significant difference in mass shooting cases. National Institute of Justice data show that 77% of mass shooters legally accessed their firearms. More than 80% of school shooters took guns from family members. Some outlets reported the gun was a birthday gift, a detail the Oregon Journalism Project has not verified. Nickerson, Duncan, and Swan did not return calls seeking comment.