Oregon father describes guilt after stopping elementary school shooting

Kaylub Giamanco, the Oregon father who shot and killed a teenage gunman at his daughters’ elementary school, has described the anguish he feels over children he could not save. In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, he said he wanted to apologise to the families of the victims despite being praised for ending the attack. Three boys, aged five, eight and 11, and a teacher were killed at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend earlier this month.

Police said six people were shot in a classroom, including another child and a teacher who were wounded. The attacker was identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former pupil of the school.

Giamanco told the broadcaster that he felt like the “last line of defence” between the gunman and the children. “The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome,” he said, “but there were ones that I didn’t save.” He said he hoped to meet the victims’ families to cry and grieve with them. The 36-year-old carpenter said he had dropped his daughters at school that morning and later passed the building while returning home for lunch.

He saw a person carrying a long gun firing at a pickup truck and moving toward the school. He retrieved a handgun from his vehicle, called emergency services and followed the attacker. According to his account, Giamanco crawled toward the building after hearing children pleading for their lives and more gunfire.

He entered through a shattered window and saw a teacher grappling with the gunman. The teacher’s intervention, he said, gave him an opening to enter the classroom and fire. Giamanco told OPB that he shot the attacker, then fired again when the teenager reached for his shotgun.

Police have said Giamanco was legally carrying his weapon in his truck. Authorities and President Donald Trump have credited him, along with the unarmed teacher who confronted the gunman, with helping prevent further deaths. The teacher who fought the attacker has not been publicly identified.

Police said she threw her phone at him, tackled him and struggled to take his shotgun. Giamanco called her a “real true hero” and said her actions enabled him to intervene. A second teacher, Becky Drury, said in a statement that she was shot as she tried to close a classroom door and then pretended to be dead.

ABC News reported that the blast nearly severed her left hand. The supplied reports did not provide an update on her current condition. Giamanco said the emotional consequences had continued after the shooting.

He told OPB that he stays awake after his family goes to bed, replaying what happened and hearing the voices and screams. He also recalled telling his mother that he had taken the life of someone he believed might still be a child. The motive for the attack remains under investigation.

The former student had attended special education classes at the school. Giamanco said he did not see himself as seeking recognition, and his family has previously asked for privacy. His account presents the intervention not as a triumph, but as an experience accompanied by lasting grief and uncertainty over those who died.