Oregon Father Recounts Intervening in Deadly Elementary School Shooting

A 36-year-old carpenter intervened to stop a school shooting in Bend, Oregon, fatally shooting a 16-year-old gunman who had killed four people at an elementary school earlier this month.

Kaylub Giamanco fatally shot Griffin J. John II at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15 after the teenager killed teacher Megan Lambert and three young children, according to police and news reports.

The attack has devastated the local community and drawn national attention to campus security, while law enforcement officials have praised the quick actions of both Giamanco and a teacher who confronted the attacker.

In his first public interview about the incident, Giamanco spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting about his anguish over the victims he could not protect.

“I want to apologise for not saving their babies,” said Giamanco.

He added, “The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn’t save.”

Giamanco was on his way home to eat lunch with his wife when he spotted a gunman in black heading toward the school grounds, according to reports.

He retrieved a handgun from his truck console, called emergency services, and approached the building.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,’” said Giamanco.

He crawled through a shattered window into a classroom where Lambert was struggling with the gunman for his weapon, reports said.

Giamanco fired his weapon to stop the attack, shooting the teenager multiple times when the assailant reached for his gun again.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said the teacher who fought the attacker almost certainly helped prevent further bloodshed.

Giamanco now says he wants to see safer schools with resource officers at every site and hopes to raise funding for school safety efforts.

Police stated that the motive of the teenage former student remains under investigation.