Home · Politics · Oct 23 archive
Hero Dad Stops School Shooter, Saves Lives
· Confirmed
In Short: Kaylub Giamanco, a father of two, confronted and shot the school shooter, ending a rampage that left three children and a teacher dead.
On October 15, Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father of two girls who attend Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, confronted and shot the school shooter, ending a rampage that left three children and a teacher dead.
Giamanco detailed the attack in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, saying, 'I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.' He abandoned a 911 call to confront the gunman because he feared children would die before police arrived.
Giamanco told OPB that he saw a 'man in black' holding a long gun near the school grounds. 'I don’t think we can underestimate or under-appreciate that courage,' said a community member.
The shooter, identified as a 16-year-old boy from Bend, forced his way into the school on Thursday afternoon by shooting through locked doors with a long gun. Police said Giamanco pursued and fatally shot the attacker, ending the rampage.
In addition to the 36-year-old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, a teacher in the classroom threw her cellphone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.
Giamanco said he hugged his daughter, picked her up, and squeezed her as hard as he could. 'I’ve always wanted to change the world, but I’ve felt small,' he said.
Freeman, Giamanco's mother, said, 'Kaylub has a genuine heart and he loves his community and his family and his children. He's just a good person, in general.'
Giamanco expressed gratitude to the first responders, school personnel, and community for the outpouring of love and support. 'He is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude,' said a spokesperson.
Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook said in a statement, 'We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy.'
Emergency services began receiving calls for help around 12:59pm local time (19:59 GMT), with 'dozens' of additional calls in the ensuing minutes.
The motive remains under investigation, and police are looking into the circumstances that led to the shooting.
Giamanco's actions were praised by President Donald Trump, who said the intervention likely saved lives.
Background
On October 15, Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father of two girls who attend Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, confronted and shot the school shooter, ending a rampage that left three children and a teacher dead.
What's confirmed
- The victims were all pupils at the school, aged 14 to 17, said Albert Palencia, mayor of Banga town in South Cotabato, where the shooting took place.
- Three pupils were killed in a school shooting on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao on Friday, including the 16-year-old suspected gunman who turned the weapon on himself.
- Giamanco told OPB that he saw a “man in black” holding a long gun near the school grounds.
- In June, at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured in an attack at a public high school in Tacloban, where two classmates opened fire on campus.
- The mass shooting at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school on Thursday that left three children and one teacher dead took place inside a special needs classroom, authorities said at a news conference, identifying some of the victims and the suspected shooter.
- Trump said he was briefed on shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, where three children and a teacher were killed.
- BOTELHO | The National News Desk WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump praised the Good Samaritan who shot and killed an Oregon elementary school shooter, saying the intervention likely saved lives.
What's still developing
- Seattle Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis told the city council's public safety committee that although officers took the shooter into custody in less than half a minute after the shooting on July 26, official information to the public was delayed for hours due to directives from the mayor's office.
- “The suspect supposedly sat beside his friends and told them to go home ‘because after lunch, I will be executing my plan’. His friends laughed because the shooter was a known joker,” Palencia told Reuters.
- “Looks like the shooter has been neutralized – possibly shot by a father at the school,” emergency dispatchers said to responding officers, according to the New York Post.
- "It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it."
- “That’s when panic fled into my brain, and that’s when I opened my center console,” he said.
- “We need to be responsible in storing firearms. Gun owners, in particular, must make sure that minors do not have access to them,” Tamayo told Reuters by phone.
- He told our colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting in this exclusive interview that he was heading home for lunch and driving by the school when he saw the shooter carrying a shotgun.