Latest Mass Murder in Oregon: Toxicology Secrecy, a National FightRepublished with permission from AbleChild.More than a week has passed since three children and a teacher were killed at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend. The accused shooter also died, and two others were wounded. Yet officials held only two press conferences, refused to repeat the accused shooter’s name, Griffin J. John II, and mixed up his first and last names, leaving journalists struggling to find information about him. The authorities have not held another press conference to answer any questions the most important, the status of the toxicology report on Griffin J. John II. That failure of transparency is shocking. The public bears the consequences of these mass killings. It deserves answers.The same state that tests the evidence decides whether the public gets to see it, making the government both the interpreter of the findings and the gatekeeper against independent scrutiny.Oregon’s Public law, ORS 192.345 conditionally exempts medical examiner, autopsy, and laboratory reports, including toxicology, from disclosure “unless the public interest requires disclosure in the particular instance.” The institution holding the evidence initially decides whether the public interest warrants its release. This case, and every mass killing, demands full disclosure. Lawmakers must strengthen the public records law so officials cannot use privacy claims to shield information from the public.The public won. Lawmakers rewrote the rules.In 2008, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in Colby v. Gunson that guaranteeing relatives access to autopsy and laboratory reports did not make those records confidential. The legislature responded in 2009 with SB 87, creating a specific exemption for those reports.Seventeen years later, that barrier remains.The public won a transparency ruling. The legislature then gave government a new legal basis to withhold the records.Oregon already has a costly warning about hidden laboratory findings. In September 2025, Nicholas McGuffin reached a $14 million settlement over his wrongful conviction: $9 million from the Oregon State Police forensic lab and $5 million from Coquille and its police department. Unidentified male DNA that did not match McGuffin had been left out of laboratory reports and withheld from his defense. Neither the police nor the lab admitted wrongdoing in the settlement.That was a DNA case, not a toxicology case. But the lesson applies: a laboratory report can leave out evidence that changes everything. Independent access is a safeguard, not an inconvenience.A “negative” toxicology report does not mean no drugs were present. A test can miss a psychiatric drug because the lab did not test for it or because the amount was below the test’s cutoff. The drug may have been present without appearing in the results.The public can be kept in the dark in three ways: the lab never tests for the drug, the amount falls below what the lab reports, or officials withhold the report itself. The result is the same: the public cannot see the full picture of possible psychiatric drug use.The public needs to know whether the deceased had psychiatric drugs in their system, including at levels labeled “therapeutic.” Those findings are not beside the point. They are the point. Collecting and examining that data is vital to investigating possible drug safety risks, identifying patterns across deaths, and protecting consumers. A “therapeutic” label should trigger inclusion in the data, not exclusion from scrutiny.Tennessee’s landmark 2025 law provides a model. For certain deceased mass shooters, it requires drug testing explicitly including “therapeutic levels of psychotropic drugs.” Oregon should follow that lead. Test for it. Report it. Do not dismiss it because the level is labeled “therapeutic.”Privacy does not require blanket secrecy. Officials can redact intimate details and justify any investigative hold in writing, with a firm deadline for review.Oregon must explain which psychiatric drugs and their breakdown products it tests for after death, how small an amount its tests can detect, and what levels it reports. It must disclose whether all detected concentrations appear in the findings, including those labeled “therapeutic.” The state must also explain what prompts testing beyond its standard panel, when it uses outside laboratories, and who makes those decisions.Repeal the report specific exemption in ORS 192.345. Replace it with a presumption of disclosure for completed reports in cases of substantial public concern, narrow redactions, justified investigative holds with deadlines, and independent review of denials.In Bend, Police Chief Mike Krantz told reporters, “I will not say his name again,” after identifying the dead suspect at the October 16 press conference. Since then, narratives have trickled out while basic questions remain unanswered: Was toxicology ordered? Which drugs were tested for? Will the complete findings, including levels labeled “therapeutic,” be released?With the midterm elections approaching, officials’ failure to hold another full public press conference raises a serious question: Is political image taking priority over public accountability? The public deserves direct answers about this investigation, not carefully managed narratives. An election is no excuse to withhold facts.The public bears the cost of these killings. It should not have to fight for the facts afterward.Seventeen years of this barrier is enough. Repeal the exemption. Disclose the testing limits. Release the findings. The state must not control the evidence and then deny the public the means to challenge its account.AbleChild is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has recently co-written landmark legislation in Tennessee, setting a national precedent for transparency and accountability in the intersection of mental health, pharmaceutical practices, and public safety.What you can do. Sign the Petition calling for federal hearings!Donate! Every dollar you give is a powerful statement, a resounding declaration that the struggles of these families will no longer be ignored. Your generosity today will echo through generations, ensuring that the rights and well-being of children are fiercely guarded. Don’t let another family navigate this journey alone.Donate now and join us in creating a world where every child’s mind is nurtured, respected, and given the opportunity to thrive. As a 501(c)3 organization, your donation to AbleChild is not only an investment in the well-being of vulnerable children but also a tax-deductible contribution to a cause that transcends individual lives.The post Latest Mass Murder in Oregon: Toxicology Secrecy, a National Fight appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.