“I WISH I COULD HAVE SAVED EVERY CHILD”: FATHER WHO STOPPED OREGON SCHOOL SHOOTER STRUGGLES WITH HEARTBREAKING AFTERMATH

Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father of two, risked his life to stop an armed teenager at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. Police credit his intervention and a teacher’s courageous actions with helping prevent further loss of life. Yet as the community mourns four victims, Giamanco says he cannot stop thinking about the children he could not save.

A father who intervened during a deadly school shooting in Oregon is being praised for his courage, but his own thoughts have turned to the families who lost loved ones.

Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father of two young daughters, confronted an armed teenager at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on October 15, 2026. The teenager, identified by police as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, was fatally shot by Giamanco after entering the school and opening fire.

Four people — three children and a teacher — lost their lives in the attack. Two others were injured.

In an emotional interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), Giamanco described the incident as the scariest day of his life. Although he knows his intervention helped stop the attacker, he has struggled with the thought that he could not reach the victims sooner.

“I want to apologize for not saving their babies, that’s probably the biggest thing for me right now,” he told OPB.

His words reveal the painful reality behind the public praise: a man who acted in a moment of danger is now trying to process what happened and the lives forever changed by the tragedy.

A ROUTINE DAY TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE

October 15 began like an ordinary school day for the Giamanco family.

Kaylub and his wife prepared breakfast and packed lunches for their daughters before taking them to Silver Rail Elementary for school picture day. After dropping them off, he headed to a job site to work as a carpenter.

Later that day, he decided to return home for lunch.

As he drove past the school, he noticed an armed teenager outside the grounds. According to Giamanco’s account and information released by police, the teenager had fired at a passing pickup truck and a person mowing the school lawn before climbing over a fence and heading toward the building.

Giamanco immediately understood that children could be in danger.

He called 911 and then made a decision that would change his life. After retrieving his legally carried handgun from his truck, he moved toward the school.

“I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,” he told the emergency dispatcher before ending the call and continuing toward the building.

It was a decision made in a matter of moments, with his own daughters among the children who attended the school.

A TEACHER WAS ALREADY FIGHTING TO PROTECT HER STUDENTS

When Giamanco reached the school, the teenager had forced his way through the glass panes of locked exterior doors and entered a classroom.

Inside, a teacher had already attempted to stop him.

Police Chief Mike Krantz said the teacher threw her cellphone at the attacker before tackling him and struggling to take control of his firearm. Her actions placed her directly in danger, but police believe she helped prevent further bloodshed.

Giamanco entered through a broken window and saw the teacher grappling with the teenager.

Recognizing the immediate danger, he fired at the attacker. According to his account, the teenager then reached toward his shotgun, prompting Giamanco to fire again because he feared the attacker might continue harming people.

The teenager died at the scene.

Police arrived less than five minutes after the first emergency call, according to officials. Investigators said the teenager had been carrying a shotgun and ammunition.

Authorities have publicly credited both Giamanco and the teacher who confronted the attacker with helping save lives. Giamanco himself has been careful to recognize the teacher’s contribution, describing her actions as genuinely heroic.

Her intervention was a crucial part of the events that unfolded inside the classroom, and police have emphasized that several people acted during the emergency.

FOUR LIVES LOST IN A TRAGEDY THAT SHOOK THE COMMUNITY

Despite the efforts to stop the attack, the consequences were devastating.

Three boys, aged 5, 8 and 11, died alongside 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert.

Police publicly identified Rhoam Summer, a five-year-old kindergarten student, and Lambert. The families of the other two children asked authorities not to release their names.

A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were also seriously injured and taken to hospital.

Lambert was remembered as a dedicated educator who had worked at Silver Rail Elementary and cared for the children in her classroom. The loss of the young students has left families, teachers and the wider Bend community grieving.

Vigils were held as residents gathered outside the school with flowers, candles, children’s books and stuffed animals. Messages of love and remembrance were left at a makeshift memorial.

For Giamanco, the tragedy is not an abstract news story. He is a parent whose own children attend the school, and he knows the families whose lives were changed that afternoon are facing a grief that cannot be undone.

“I FELT LIKE I WAS THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE”

In the days after the shooting, Giamanco spoke openly about the fear he experienced while moving toward the school.

He recalled hearing children pleading for their lives as he approached the building. At that moment, he believed he might not survive what he was about to do.

“I felt like I was the last line of defense between him and the rest of the children,” he said.

He entered knowing the danger was real, but he also feared what might happen if nobody intervened.

Police have praised his decision to act, and President Donald Trump also publicly commended him following the attack.

Yet the attention has not erased Giamanco’s emotional struggle. He has spoken about reliving the experience and grappling with the weight of having taken another person’s life, even as he believes he acted to prevent further harm.

He has also said he feels he was meant to be there that day, while acknowledging how difficult it is to understand everything that happened.

His account underscores that surviving a traumatic event and being praised for a courageous act do not automatically make its emotional consequences easier to bear.

A FATHER THINKING ABOUT THE FAMILIES WHO LOST THEIR CHILDREN

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of Giamanco’s account is that he has not focused on the recognition he has received.

Instead, he keeps returning to the children who died and the families now living with their absence.

“The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome. But there were ones that I didn’t save,” he said.

Those words reflect the burden he has described carrying since the attack. While others have called him a hero, he has questioned whether he could have done more.

There is no way to know precisely what would have happened had he not intervened, and it would be impossible to determine how many additional lives might otherwise have been lost. Police have nevertheless said his actions, together with the teacher’s intervention, helped prevent further harm.

Giamanco’s regret does not diminish the significance of his actions. It shows how deeply he has been affected by the loss experienced by other families.

His daughters were part of the school community that day, and his decision to intervene came from the realization that children were in immediate danger.

He now faces the difficult task of processing the experience while returning to family life after an event that has changed his community forever.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SHOOTING REMAIN

Investigators