Hero Dad Recounts Killing Bend School Shooter, Expresses Grief for Lost Lives

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, has detailed the harrowing experience of confronting and killing the 16-year-old gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. The father of two, whose daughters attend the school, described the unfolding terror on October 15 as he drove home on his lunch break.

He first spotted the shooter, Griffin John II, firing at a vehicle ahead of him before throwing his rifle over a fence and heading toward the school. "That's when panic flooded into my brain," Giamanco told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). Grabbing his gun from his center console, he loaded the magazine while calling 911. He hung up before the dispatcher could ask all questions, stating, "I'm sorry, but I have to go in. People are going to die."

As Giamanco crawled along the school's windows, he heard the sounds of gunfire and children pleading for their lives. "I started army-crawling faster and faster. And I told myself: 'This is probably the last thing I'm ever going to do,'" he recalled.

He entered the school and found the gunman struggling with a teacher. Giamanco swung open the classroom door and opened fire on the teenager, a former student of Silver Rail. The teacher, initially mistaking Giamanco for a second shooter, looked at him in fear, a moment that deeply affected him. After the teacher left, Giamanco observed the gunman attempting to retrieve his weapon and fired two more shots to ensure he could not harm anyone else.

Shortly after, the first police officer arrived. Giamanco, who holds a concealed carry license, requested to call his wife, whom he had spoken to earlier about lunch plans. He informed her he had killed someone and witnessed children die, before calling his mother.

"I can't tell you what it feels like to take a life," Giamanco said, admitting he struggles with the reality of being unable to save the lives lost. The gunman, Griffin John II, killed special needs students Rhoam Summer, 5, and two other unidentified students, as well as teacher Megan Lambert. He injured student Saylor Graham, 7, and teacher Becky Drury. John fired 15 rounds before Giamanco fatally shot him. The motive for the shooting remains unknown. The investigation into how John obtained ammunition is ongoing. His mother had purchased the gun for him around his 16th birthday in August.

Giamanco described himself as the "last line of defense" and expressed gratitude for the public's recognition but also a profound sense of failure toward the victims' families. "I do feel like I've failed them," he told OPB, though he expressed a desire to meet with them. He hopes to channel this tragic experience into positive change, stating, "I'm just a carpenter from Bend, Oregon, you know?"