Man Who Shot School Gunman Regrets Not Saving All Children

The Oregon man who fatally shot a teenage gunman to end a deadly rampage at an elementary school said he acted as the children's "last line of defense" and expressed regret for not being able to save all of them.

Kaylub Giamanco, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, where the Oct. 15 attack occurred, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he feels he failed the families of those who died. "I want to apologize for not saving their babies, that’s probably the biggest thing for me right now," Giamanco said. "The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome. But there were ones that I didn’t save."

Three children, aged 5, 8, and 11, and a teacher were killed at the school by 16-year-old former student Griffin J. John II, who used a shotgun to force his way into the building and attack a special needs classroom. Another student was critically injured, and a teacher was injured and hospitalized.

According to police, another teacher confronted the gunman and wrestled with him before Giamanco shot and killed the attacker. Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, had dropped his daughters off at the school that morning and was passing by again when he saw the gunman firing shots into a pickup truck and at a person mowing the school's lawn. The gunman then climbed a fence and headed toward the school building.

"Panic fled into my brain," Giamanco recounted. He retrieved a .40-caliber handgun from his truck's console and pursued the gunman while dialing 911. He informed the dispatcher that he had to enter the building, stating, "People are going to die."

As he approached the school, Giamanco lay on his stomach and crawled across the ground, hearing children's pleas and subsequent gunfire. He entered the school through a window that had been shot out. Inside, he saw a teacher grappling with the shooter.

"I felt like I was the last line of defense between him and the rest of the children," Giamanco said. He entered the room and fired his weapon. Both the gunman and the teacher fell. The teacher fled as the shooter reached for his weapon. "He was scrambling for his weapon," Giamanco said. "I looked at him and I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn’t move, because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else."

Police confirmed Giamanco was legally carrying his firearm. Both he and the unarmed teacher who initially confronted the gunman have been credited with saving lives. President Donald Trump called Giamanco a "great hero" following the incident.

Becky Drury, a second teacher in the classroom, stated that she played dead after being struck by a shotgun blast that severely injured her hand. The teacher who struggled with the gunman has not been publicly identified, but Giamanco described her as a "real true hero" whose actions provided him the opportunity to neutralize the attacker. "I can’t tell you what it feels like to take a life… but I can tell you that I genuinely feel like I was supposed to be there," Giamanco said. "If I wasn’t there, I just don’t know what would have happened."