Oregon Father Recounts Intervening in Deadly Elementary School Shooting

A week after a tragic mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, the father who intervened and killed the gunman is sharing his story. Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and military veteran whose two daughters attend the school, spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting in an exclusive interview published Friday, recounting the desperate minutes when he decided to pursue the 16-year-old assailant.

The attack occurred on October 15, after the teenage gunman forced his way into the school by blasting through glass doors with a shotgun. The former special-needs student killed three children—ages 5, 8, and 11—and a 25-year-old teacher, while wounding others. Authorities have credited Giamanco and an unnamed teacher with preventing further loss of life during the rampage.

Giamanco's presence at the scene was a result of a last-minute change in plans. Having packed a lunch that morning after getting his daughters ready for school picture day, he changed his mind around lunchtime and decided to drive home to eat leftovers with his wife. As he turned onto Brentwood Avenue running alongside the school, he witnessed the gunman fire at a pickup truck and a person mowing the lawn before tossing his weapon over the fence and climbing after it.

"That's when panic fled into my brain, and that's when I opened my center console," Giamanco told OPB, describing how he grabbed his legally carried .40-caliber handgun. He dialed 911 via Siri, telling the dispatcher, "I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die," before abandoning the call to act. Giamanco hopped the fence and army-crawled along the side of the building as gunfire and children pleading for their lives echoed through the halls.

When Giamanco reached the special education classroom, he witnessed an unidentified teacher struggling with the gunman. Police later stated that the teacher threw her phone at the attacker and tackled him, creating a crucial delay. Giamanco opened the door, stepped into the room, and fired his weapon, bringing both the gunman and the teacher to the floor. As the teacher bolted from the room and the shooter scrambled for his weapon, Giamanco fired two additional shots to neutralize the threat.

In the aftermath, Giamanco returned to his truck, unloaded his weapon, and called his wife and mother. While officials including President Donald Trump and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised his immense bravery, calling him a hero who stopped further bloodshed, Giamanco continues to struggle heavily with the tragedy. He expressed profound remorse for the victims he could not save.

"I want to apologize for not saving their babies," Giamanco said, noting that he frequently lies awake at night replaying the events. "The gratitude for saving people's children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn't save... I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams." Despite his trauma, he hopes to use his voice to advocate for school safety and make a positive impact in his community.