Dad Recounts Stopping Oregon School Shooting
A father of two describes confronting the gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School, stating he felt he was 'supposed to be there'.
Kaylub Giamanco, the father who intervened in a deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, has spoken about the events of Oct. 15. Giamanco told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he saw an armed individual in black jump over the school fence and immediately retrieved his own firearm.
"That's when panic fled into my brain," Giamanco recounted. "That's when I opened my center console and I just said, 'No, no, no, no, no,' and I grabbed my gun."
He described hearing gunfire and children pleading for their lives as the gunman entered a classroom. Giamanco then crawled toward the classroom, kicked open the door, and confronted the attacker.
"I swung the door out and open and I stepped in and I fired," Giamanco said. "He was scrambling for his weapon, and I looked at him and I shot him two more times."
The shooter was killed by Giamanco. Police confirmed that the gunman had fatally shot three students and a teacher, and injured another student and teacher. Authorities have praised Giamanco for his actions, stating he "undoubtedly saved people."
Giamanco, a carpenter and resident of Bend, expressed remorse for the lives he could not save. "I want to apologize for not saving their babies," he told OPB. "That's probably the biggest thing for me right now, because the gratitude for saving people's children is awesome. But there was ones that I didn't save."
The family of Megan Lambert, one of the victims, released a statement calling Giamanco a hero for risking his life. Giamanco also commended a teacher who reportedly tackled the gunman, allowing him the opportunity to act.
"I would love to give her a hug because that's a real true hero," Giamanco said of the teacher.