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A father who shot and killed a gunman at his daughters’ school in Oregon has described hearing children plead for their lives and his anguish over those he could not save. BBC World reported on the account, which Kaylub Giamanco gave in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) that aired on Friday.
Three students and a teacher were killed at Silver Rail Elementary School earlier this month by a 16-year-old former student. The attacker was then killed by Giamanco, 36.
“I want to apologise for not saving their babies,” Giamanco said, referring to the parents of the children killed. “The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn’t save.” He said he wanted to meet the victims’ families and “cry with them and hold them”.
Giamanco credited a teacher who fought the attacker with giving him the opportunity to intervene without losing his own life. “I would love to give her a hug because that’s a real true hero,” he said.
The students killed were boys aged five, eight and 11. They were among six people shot in a classroom, police said. The teacher was also killed, while another child and a teacher were wounded.
Giamanco’s account of the attack
Giamanco told OPB that the day began with breakfast and packed lunches. He and his wife spent extra time getting their daughters ready because it was school picture day.
The carpenter had taken lunch to work but decided to return home to eat with his wife. That decision took him past the school as the attack began.
At first, he wondered if a person carrying a long gun was playing a prank. He then saw the gunman shoot at a pickup truck and head towards the school.
Giamanco took a handgun from his vehicle and called emergency services. “I said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,’” he told the broadcaster.
He followed the attacker, who shot through the school’s locked glass doors. After hearing children pleading for their lives and more gunfire, Giamanco crawled towards the building. “I told myself this is probably the last thing that I’m ever going to do,” he said.
Giamanco crawled through a shattered window and reached the classroom, where a teacher was struggling with the gunman. He opened the door and fired.
He told OPB he fired again when the attacker reached for his weapon. Giamanco then put his own gun on the ground and raised his hands as an officer appeared.
He said he felt like the “last line of defence” between the children and the gunman, and that he “was supposed to be there” that day.
After the attack, he called his wife to say he would not be home for lunch and that she needed to get to the school immediately. He then called his mother to tell her what had happened. “Mum, I just had to take the life of what I think is might be a child because he ran into my daughter’s school with a gun,” he said.
Police identify attacker and victims
Police identified the gunman as Griffin J John II, a former pupil who had attended special education classes at the school. His motive remains under investigation.
Police said the teacher who confronted the attacker threw her phone at him, tackled him and fought to take his shotgun. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said she “almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed”.
The youngest victim was five-year-old Rhoam Summer. His father said the family was “broken and lost”.
Megan Lambert, 25, the teacher who was killed, was working in what her family called her “dream job”. “She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs,” they said.
The families of the other two boys have asked that their names not be made public. The injured teacher was identified as Becky Drury, 54. In a statement shared with US media, she said the gunman shot her as she tried to close her classroom door.
Giamanco’s name became public less than a day after the shooting. His mother, Kenda Freeman, read a family statement saying he was not seeking recognition and asking for privacy.
Shortly after the attack, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised Giamanco’s intervention while acknowledging its emotional toll. “Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” she said.
Giamanco told OPB he now lies awake after his family goes to bed, replaying the attack. “I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams.”
