Kaylub Giamanco stepped into a deadly scene at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, after a 16-year-old shooter entered the campus on Oct. 15, 2026.
Violent breach and casualties
A former student, identified as Griffin J. John II, forced his way through secured doors with a shotgun and opened fire on a special-needs classroom. Three children—aged five, eight and eleven—plus a teacher lost their lives.
A fourth pupil was left in critical condition, and another teacher sustained injuries that required hospital care.
Father-turned-defender
Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, had dropped his daughters off at the school that morning before heading to work, as he normally did.
While returning home for lunch, he drove past the school and saw a man in black carrying a long firearm, firing at a pickup truck and a grounds-keeping worker.
He recalled that panic surged through his mind, prompting him to retrieve a 40-calibre handgun from his truck’s centre console and pursue the shooter while dialing 911.
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During the call, Giamanco told the operator, “I’m sorry I have to go in. People are going to die.” He then ended the call and drove toward the building.
Inside the school
Approaching the school, he dropped to his stomach and crawled on his elbows, a maneuver he described as “army crawling.”
He said he heard children pleading for their lives, followed by gunfire, and felt that the moment could be his last.
Giamanco entered through a shattered window and saw a teacher locked in combat with the shooter, both positioned side-on to him, offering a clear line of sight.
He threw open the classroom door, stepped inside and opened fire. Police later confirmed that an unarmed teacher had thrown her phone at the attacker and grappled with him before Giamanco’s shots.
Both the shooter and the teacher fell to the floor; the teacher escaped as the shooter reached for his shotgun. Giamanco fired two additional rounds to ensure the gunman could not move.
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Law enforcement verified that Giamanco was lawfully carrying his firearm in his vehicle and credited his actions, along with the teacher’s resistance, with preventing further loss of life.
Community response and grief
Flowers, candles and makeshift memorials appeared outside the school the day after the attack, as families and neighbors gathered to mourn.
Becky Drury, a teacher who was in the classroom, later said she lay motionless on the floor, feigning death after a shotgun blast nearly severed her left hand at point-blank range.
The teacher who initially grappled with the shooter has not been publicly identified.
Giamanco told a public broadcaster, “I can’t tell you what it feels like to take a life …”. He also said the teacher who grappled with the shooter is “a real true hero” whose courage provided him with the chance to neutralise the attacker.
An image captured on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 shows Giamanco seated for an Oregon Public Broadcasting interview, his face reflecting the weight of the event.