(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Oregonian reported Thursday that the 16-year-old who shot and killed three students and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Oct. 15 may have links to the online Satanic cult known as “764.”
“The FBI and state and local police are investigating the teen’s possible interactions with violent extremism groups, including the predatory faction known as 764, on the online platform Discord,” the Oregonian reported, citing two law enforcement officials.
The shooter, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, carried out his attack with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that his mother had purchased for him as a birthday gift. Police say another teacher threw her phone at the attacker and wrestled with him before Kaylub Giamanco, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary, saved the day—shooting and killed John II after following the gunman into the building.
The three children who were killed were ages 5, 8 and 11.
If linked to 764, the Oct. 15 attack would be the latest in a series of attacks or planned attacks perpetrated by the online network.
764 Shootings
The first known 764 shooting occurred in December 2024, when 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire during a study hall—killing another student and a teacher, and wounding six others before killing herself. When investigators searched Rupnow’s phone, they found that she was part of a network of extremist and sadistic chatrooms, and that she was communicating with many other people.
We now know that these 4 people were all associating with each other in online accelerationist chatrooms.
Natalie Rupnow, the 15-year-old girl, committed a school shooting in December.
Solomon Henderson, the 17-year-old black teenager, committed a school shooting in January.
The… pic.twitter.com/kuPnQKJq7a— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) May 1, 2025
A month later, another 764-inspired shooting occurred when a 17-year-old black student named Solomon Henderson allegedly opened fire at his school—killing a female student and wounding one other before killing himself.
Aroudn that same time, the FBI detained a 20-year-old man named Alexander Paffendorf, who was also allegedly talking to Rupnow online about committing a mass shooting.
Along with Paffendorf, Rupnow was also found to have been communicating with 22-year-old Damien Blade Allen. According to a detective’s affidavit released in April 2025, the two were in a “conspiracy” to commit mass shootings.
According to his court docket, Allen was offered a plea deal in September, and a conference is set for Nov. 4 to discuss that offer.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
