Carpenter Stops Shootings at Bend School, Faces Emotional Aftermath
Kaylub Giamanco, a carpenter in Bend, Oregon, stopped a school shooter but grapples with the lives lost during the tragedy.
BEND, Oct 24: Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, stopped a school shooter at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, on October 15. Despite saving lives, Giamanco feels haunted by the tragedy.
Giamanco, who has two daughters at the school, made a series of decisions that led him near the shooting scene just before 1 p.m. He recounted feeling panic upon seeing the shooter, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, opening fire on a motorist and a woman working nearby.
In an emotional interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Giamanco said, “I said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.’” He called 911 but chose to confront the shooter before help arrived.
Crawling into the school through a damaged window, he heard children begging for their lives and gunfire. Giamanco reached the classroom where the shooter was fighting a teacher. He fired his gun, hitting the attacker. “I felt like I was the last line of defense between him and the rest of the children,” he said.
After killing the shooter, Giamanco called his wife to say he wouldn’t be home for lunch. She reassured him, saying, “You did the right thing. You’re a hero. You saved lives.” Yet, Giamanco expressed regret: “I didn’t save everybody. I didn’t get them all.”
The shooting resulted in the deaths of three children aged 5, 8, and 11, along with a teacher. A police chief praised Giamanco’s swift actions as courageous. “I want to apologize for not saving their babies,” Giamanco reflected on his inability to prevent the tragedy.
Giamanco, a military veteran, described the toll the event has taken on his mental health. He said, “I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams,” indicating ongoing trauma from the incident.
Despite being credited as a hero, Giamanco continues to grapple with the emotional aftermath of that fateful day.
