Hero teacher tackled Silver Rail mass shooter Griffin John during massacre, 'helped prevent more bloodshed': police

A hero teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, tackled the 16-year-old mass shooter Griffin J. John after he burst into a special education classroom on Thursday afternoon carrying his arsenal of weapons, officials said this week.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said that the hero teacher threw her phone at the teen, then took him to the floor and struggled to pull the gun from his hands.

According to Krantz, the shooter got off at least 15 rounds inside the room using a Maverick 88, a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. He had loaded it with a mix of birdshot, buckshot, and slugs.

At that point, Kaylub Giamanco, a father of a girl at the school, ran into the classroom armed with a .40-caliber handgun and found the teacher, whose name has not been released. Giamanco opened fire, hitting John several times and killing him.

"She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," Krantz added, per the New York Post.

Four people died in the attack: 5-year-old Rhoam Summer, an 8-year-old student, an 11-year-old student, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert.

Before entering the building, John tossed his gun over a fence and climbed onto the school grounds. A man in a red pickup truck shouted at him, and John responded by firing three shots at the vehicle. The driver was able to get away and make the first 911 call.

Two other people had critical injuries, including a 7-year-old named in a GoFundMe as Saylor Graham, and 54-year-old teacher Becky Drury.

Kyle Giamanco, Kaylub's brother, told NBC News that Graham, who uses a wheelchair, was struck in the face. Krantz said the child is now in serious but stable condition. Drury's mother-in-law, Yvonne Drury, wrote on Facebook that the teacher was hit in her left arm and right hand.