Kaylub Giamanco was driving home for lunch on Thursday when he heard gunfire coming from Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, where his two daughters are students. Moments later, the 36-year-old carpenter followed a teenage gunman into the school and shot him dead, ending a rampage that left four people dead, including three young children.
The attacker, identified by police as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, was a former student at the school who had attended special education classes. Armed with a 12-gauge Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun purchased by his mother, he shot his way through locked school doors and opened fire in a special education classroom, killing a teacher and three children aged 5, 8 and 11. A 7-year-old student and another teacher, 54, were also wounded.
At a news conference Friday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz revealed that another teacher had attempted to stop the gunman before Giamanco intervened. The teacher threw her cellphone at the attacker, tackled him and struggled to take away his weapon. Police said she survived the confrontation without being injured.
"She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," Krantz said, praising her actions as heroic.
Investigators said the first confrontation occurred outside the school, when the teenage gunman threw his shotgun over a fence and climbed onto the school grounds. A driver in a red pickup truck shouted at him, prompting the attacker to open fire on the vehicle, striking it three times. The driver escaped unharmed and called 911.
Giamanco, who was passing nearby, witnessed the teenager shooting at the vehicle and heading toward the school. He pulled into the parking lot, took his .40-caliber pistol and pursued the attacker inside. There, he encountered the gunman struggling with the teacher and fired several shots, killing him.
Police said the attack unfolded within minutes. Investigators estimated that the teenager fired as many as 15 shotgun rounds and still had approximately 44 rounds of ammunition when he was killed.
'He doesn't feel like a hero'
Giamanco's brother, Kyle, told NBC News that despite being credited with preventing further bloodshed, his brother does not see himself as a hero. Instead, he is struggling with guilt over the lives he was unable to save. He has declined interview requests while he processes what happened.
Their mother, Kenda Freeman, told the New York Post that she was immensely proud of her son's quick thinking and courage. "He is absolutely a hero," she said, adding that he was going through an extremely difficult time.
Meghan Lambert, the 25-year-old teacher killed in the Oregon school shooting
(Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
Freeman also read a statement on behalf of the family, saying Giamanco was not seeking public recognition and wanted instead to thank first responders, school employees and members of the community for their support. His family, including his two daughters, requested privacy.
According to the New York Post, Giamanco had previously practiced shooting with U.S. military veterans who served in Iraq. In a September 2018 Facebook post, he described participating in shooting exercises with a group of former soldiers, thanking them for sharing their experience and service.
President Donald Trump also praised Giamanco, describing him as a "great hero" who "took care of business." Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the shooting was a terrible tragedy but suggested the death toll could have been even higher without the father's intervention.
"It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it," Trump said.
'The teacher shouted no, please'
Accounts from children who survived the attack have provided a harrowing picture of what unfolded inside the school.
Stacy Green, whose granddaughters, ages 7 and 11, attend Silver Rail Elementary, said the girls heard multiple gunshots coming from a neighboring classroom. They also heard a special education teacher pleading, "No, please," before more gunfire erupted.
Another grandmother, Christine Wenzke, said her 10-year-old grandson, Aizen, heard so many gunshots that he lost count. The boy, who was closest to his classroom door, rushed to lock it before joining his classmates and teacher behind lockers, following emergency procedures they had practiced.
"I locked the door and I went back behind our lockers," Aizen told ABC News. He said the students and their teacher were unharmed, but many children were terrified and crying.
Police identified one of the victims as 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert, remembered by her family as a compassionate educator devoted to children with special needs.
"Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart," her family said in a statement. "She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs." Relatives also described her as a beloved daughter, sister, niece and granddaughter.
Flowers and tributes outside Silver Rail Elementary School, where four people were killed
(Photo: AP Photo/Joe Kline)
The youngest victim was 5-year-old Rhoam Summer. His aunt, Swan Sheridan, remembered him as a fearless climber, a fast runner and an enthusiastic reader who adored his stuffed animals.
"He never met a stuffie that he didn't think needed to be rescued and cared for," she said. Sheridan described her nephew as a joyful child who had been full of energy since birth.
The names of the other two children killed, aged 8 and 11, were not released by police at their families' request. The two wounded victims, a 7-year-old student and teacher Becky Drury, remained under medical care. Authorities said the child was in serious but stable condition, while Drury's injuries were serious but not life-threatening.
A former student returns with a shotgun
The New York Times reported that the attacker had attended Silver Rail Elementary in 2020, when he was approximately 10 years old. His mother, Shauntai Nickerson, previously told a local news outlet that her son had struggled with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to reporters after the shooting, Nickerson expressed grief for the families of the victims and said she wished she could have prevented the tragedy. Police said they were still investigating how the teenager obtained the shotgun and what motivated the attack.
A makeshift memorial at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon
(Photo: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)
Outside Silver Rail Elementary, residents of Bend have established a makeshift memorial filled with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. Families and community members have gathered there to remember the victims and offer support to those affected.
Brooke Olsen, whose daughter attends kindergarten at the school, told The Associated Press she was astonished that someone had been willing to pursue the gunman into the building. Fighting back tears, she described the intervention as extraordinary and said she was deeply grateful that more lives had been saved.
Silver Rail Elementary, located roughly 160 kilometers southeast of Portland, serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade and enrolled approximately 459 students last year. Classes across the Bend-La Pine school district were canceled Friday following the shooting.
As the community mourns the four victims, investigators continue trying to determine why a former student returned to his old elementary school armed with a shotgun. For the families of the children and teacher who died, and for the father who ran toward the gunfire, the events of those few minutes will leave a lasting mark.