No Conviction on Record: Oregon Law Left Shotgun Purchase Legal in Bend Case
Records show Shauntai Nickerson faced assault accusations in 2023 but pleaded to harassment, so state restrictions on firearm sales did not apply when she bought the weapon used in the attack.
By Tunde Bailey ·
A mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend left four people dead one week ago, and records reviewed by the Oregon Journalism Project now trace how the 16-year-old shooter obtained his weapon. The shotgun belonged to his mother, Shauntai Nickerson, who was accused of assault twice in 2023 before she bought it.
Law enforcement officials said Nickerson legally purchased a Mossberg Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun in August and registered it in her name. The model sells for $250 to $300. Officials have not identified the retailer. Under Oregon law, parents and guardians may provide rifles and shotguns to 16- and 17-year-olds.
Oregon bars firearm sales to anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor, including assault, within the prior four years. Neither 2023 accusation against Nickerson produced an assault conviction, so that restriction did not apply. A conviction in either case would have made the purchase illegal.
A Bend police report describes a January 2023 incident in which Nickerson, then 40, and her daughter Ariel Swan, then 19, were accused of assaulting a woman outside a Taco Bell. The report says Nickerson followed the woman down an alley in a white SUV and attempted to run her over before both women attacked her. Swan was arrested on harassment and attempted fourth-degree assault charges. Nickerson was neither arrested nor charged. In a separate case less than two months later, Nickerson was charged with assault and harassment involving a different victim. She pleaded guilty to harassment in October 2023, and the Deschutes County District Attorney's office dismissed the assault charge two weeks later. An Oct. 23 statement from the office said the prosecutor did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prevail at trial.
Tung Yin, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, said the outcome likely reflected a plea bargain that let both sides avoid a trial. He noted that prosecutors and police exercise wide discretion in charging decisions. "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 examining possible links to extremist groups. The shooter was killed by a parent of two students at the school. National Institute of Justice data show 77% of mass shooters legally accessed their firearms, and more than 80% of school shooters took guns from family members. Nickerson, Duncan and Swan did not return calls seeking comment.
