Newly released 911 audio from the October 15 shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, reveals the frantic moments before a father intervened to stop the gunman. Kaylub Giamanco, whose daughters attend the school, can be heard telling a dispatcher, "I have a gun and I will shoot them right now."
The audio, released by the Deschutes 911 Service District, captures Giamanco's urgency as he describes an armed individual at his daughter's school. The dispatcher urges him to wait for police, but Giamanco relays that the attacker is "on the south side, entering the building, right now" and that people are being shot.
According to reports, Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, entered the school with a legally owned handgun. He encountered a teacher struggling with the 16-year-old attacker. The teacher had reportedly thrown her cellphone at the gunman and tackled him before Giamanco shot the assailant multiple times, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz.
The attack resulted in the deaths of three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert. One child and another teacher sustained injuries.
In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), Giamanco expressed anguish over those he could not save. "I want to apologize for not saving their babies," he told the outlet. "The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn’t save."
Lambert's family released a statement during a news conference, acknowledging Giamanco's actions. "We want the bystander who intervened to know we know he is going through a rough time, but we are grateful, and we think he is a hero," the family said. "You selflessly put yourself at risk for others."