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The weeping mother of the crazed teen gunman who carried out a mass shooting at an Oregon elementary school insisted her son was “a good boy” and that she would have tried to prevent the massacre if she could.
Shauntai May Nickerson, the mother of 16-year-old John J. Griffin II, waved off reporters on the porch of her apartment complex as she smoked a cigarette and cried, the New York Times reported.
The mother insisted Griffin — who killed three students and one teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday — was “a good boy, he really was” and said “I miss him.”
Follow for live updates on the mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something. I’m sorry for their loss,” she said, referring to the parents of those killed, according to CNN.
“If I could have prevented this, I would have,” she said, the Times reported.
Griffin was armed with a pump-action shotgun bought by his mom when he opened fire in Silver Rail Elementary’s special education classroom, where he was once a student.
Nickerson, who CNN reported works as a health aide at a local nursing home, told the outlet there were no warning signs — but wouldn’t say how he got access to the deadly firearm.
A hero girl dad, Kaylub Giamanco, followed the Griffin into the school building’s special education room and fatally shot him to put a stop to the terrorizing teen’s attack, according to police and his relatives.
Griffin first threw his Maverick 88, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, over the fence of the Bend school around 1 p.m. and hopped over, sources said.
The gun-wielding madman then tried to enter through the school’s front door but was blocked by two bystanders, sources said.
He then ran around to the school’s back door and blew off its lock — which was designed to prevent such tragedies, sources added.
Here’s the latest on the elementary school shooting in Oregon:
- The extreme measures Oregon shooter took to enter the school — and why he targeted special-ed room
- First photos of Oregon school shooter John Griffin revealed
- Sobbing mom of Oregon shooter John Griffin insists son was ‘good boy’ after killing 4 at school
- 7-year-old in wheelchair critical after being shot in face by Oregon gunman: report
Three children, 5-year-old kindergartner Rhoam Summer, an 8-year-old, an 11-year-old, and one teacher were killed in Thursday’s shooting.
A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were critically wounded in the massacre. The 7-year-old, who is in a wheelchair, was shot in the face and is now recovering from surgery, NBC News reported.
Nickerson and Griffin also appeared in a 2020 KTVZ21 story about students in the Bend-La Pine School District’s NEST program — a specialized program for students experiencing intensive behavioral and social skills challenges.
Nickerson told the outlet that her son, whom she referred to by the name “Griffin,” was struggling with learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and was happy to have him return to the special education classroom.
“I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,” Nickerson said. “And I think it will be great for my son to get the help that he needs from the skilled teachers that he needs to get it from.”
