Four Killed in Oregon After State Law Left Mother's Shotgun Sale Legal

A pump-action shotgun purchased by Shauntai Nickerson in August was fired by a 16-year-old at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, killing four people last week. Law enforcement officials say the Mossberg Maverick 88 was registered to Nickerson and that she bought it legally. The firearm sells for $250 to $300. Officials have not identified the retailer.

Oregon statute bars the sale of a gun to anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor, including assault, within the prior four years. Two assault accusations were filed against Nickerson in 2023, and neither case produced an assault conviction. A conviction in either matter would have prohibited the purchase. The Oregon Journalism Project reviewed the records.

A Bend police report from January 2023 describes an incident outside a Taco Bell in which Nickerson, then 40, and her daughter Ariel Swan, then 19, were accused of attacking a woman. The report says Nickerson followed the woman down an alley in a white SUV and attempted to run her over before both women shouted at her from the vehicle and then approached her. A bystander told officers the pair "definitely hunted her down." Swan was arrested on harassment and attempted fourth-degree assault charges. Nickerson was not arrested or charged.

Court records show Nickerson faced a second assault charge in March 2023 involving a different woman in her early 40s. The documents cite "physical injury" but offer no police report. Nickerson pleaded guilty to harassment in October 2023. Two weeks later, the Deschutes County District Attorney's office dismissed the assault count. In an Oct. 23 statement, the office said prosecutors did not think they could win at trial.

Tung Yin, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, said the outcome probably resulted from a plea bargain that allowed both sides to skip trial. "There are so many crimes that people commit, prosecutors just can't charge them all, so they have to pick and choose," Yin said. Police have not discussed a motive. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that investigators are looking into possible ties to extremist groups. A parent of two students at the school shot and killed the attacker.

Under Oregon law, parents and guardians may provide rifles and shotguns to 16- and 17-year-olds. National Institute of Justice data show 77% of mass shooters obtained their weapons legally, and more than 80% of school shooters took guns from family members. Dr. Harold Schwartz, a University of Connecticut psychiatry professor who has studied school shooters, said weapon access separates those who act from those who do not: "The single most significant difference is the availability of the weapon." Nickerson, Duncan and Swan did not return calls seeking comment.

The shooter's father, Griffin J. John, 47, has a felony conviction for assaulting a police officer along with misdemeanor assault and harassment charges, and is homeless in Astoria. Nickerson was a victim of domestic violence; her then-boyfriend Kyle Duncan pleaded guilty in 2014 to felony assault and coercion against her, convictions later vacated after he completed a deferred sentencing program.