The hero dad who saved the lives of many children during an Oregon school shooting recalled the horrific moment minute-by-minute in his first interview since his courageous act.
Kaylub Giamanco, 36, has been hailed a hero after he shot Griffin John II, 16, dead after the teen killed three special needs children and one teacher at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend on October 15.
Giamanco recalled having a totally normal morning before the shooting would change everything. He got his kids up, made them ‘pretty’ for school photos, and drove them to school.
Hours later, Giamanco would be driving home on his lunch break when he spotted Griffin John II shooting at a red vehicle in front of him. Then he saw John throw his rifle over the fence and follow after it, heading toward the school the father’s children were in.
‘That’s when panic flooded into my brain,’ he told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).
‘No, no, no, no,’ he recalled himself saying as he grabbed his gun from his center console and loaded the magazine. ‘Full panic. I was like: “No, there’s children, there’s babies in there!”‘
He called 911 to report the shooter entering the school, but he hung up before he could answer all the dispatcher’s questions.
‘I’m sorry, but I have to go in. People are going to die,’ he told the dispatcher.
Kaylub Giamanco, 36, grew emotional recalling how he shot dead Griffin John II, 16, who was shooting at special needs children at Silver Rail Elementary on October 15
Giamanco saw the shooter hope the school fence and followed him in. He is now struggling to accept he was unable to save the three children who died
As Giamanco crawled along the windows of the school after John fired two shots, he recalled hearing small children ‘plead for their lives.’
‘And then I started hearing gunfire,’ he told OPB. ‘I started army-crawling faster and faster. And I told myself: “This is probably the last thing I’m ever going to do.”‘
He would follow the gunman into the school, where the father-of-two would see the gunman struggling with a teacher.
The father would swing the classroom door open and open fire at the teenager, who used to be a student at Silver Rail. The teacher then looked at Giamanco in fear, thinking he was a second shooter.
‘That hurt a lot,’ the hero dad said.
After the teacher left the room, Giamanco saw the gunman scrambling for his weapon. The dad shot him two more times to ‘make sure he couldn’t move,’ he told OPB.
‘I was afraid of him shooting anybody else,’ he said.
Shortly after, the first police officer arrived at the school. He begged the officer to let him call his wife, whom he had communicated with earlier about reheating last night’s tacos for lunch for him.
One of his daughters attended Silver Rail. When he saw John hope the fence, he said he went into a panic and quickly grabbed his gun from his center console
John was a former student of Silver Rail Elementary. Giamanco shot the teen while he struggled with another teacher. The dad then shot him two more times to make sure he couldn’t move
‘I called my wife to tell her I’m not coming home for tacos, and that I need her to get to the school immediately,’ he said.
He told his wife he had killed somebody and that he had to watch children die. After getting off the phone with his wife, he called his mother.
The father-of-two girls grew emotional as he recalled the phone call with his mother, Kenda Freeman, telling her he just took the life of a child because he was a danger to his daughters, who attended the school.
‘I broke down at that point,’ the father said, as he held back tears retelling it.
‘I can’t tell you what it feels like to take a life,’ he told OPB. ‘It’s really not how I thought my Thursday was going to go.’
Giamanco told OPB that he felt like he was the ‘last line of defense’ against the shooter.
The father said he is grateful for the gratitude people have expressed to him, but admitted he is struggling with the reality of not being able to save the three children and one teacher who died.
‘There is a little bit of this fear to see these families, because I do feel like I’ve failed them,’ he told OPB. ‘But I do want to meet them.’
Rhoam Summer, five, was killed by John. Saylor Graham, seven, was injured
Megan Lamber was killed by John. Becky Drury was injured
Giamanco intends to use this tragic experience to make change for good – something he wouldn’t have thought he was able to do before this.
‘I’m just a carpenter from Bend, Oregon, you know?’ he said.
Freeman and the Bend community called Giamanco a hero and credited him with saving dozens of students’ lives.
Police said John fired off 15 rounds before he was killed by Giamanco. He killed five-year-old Rhoam Summer and teacher Megan Lambert. He killed two other students who have not been publicly identified.
He injured Saylor Graham, seven, and teacher Becky Drury.
John used a gun his mother had purchased around his 16th birthday in August. Law enforcement remained unsure as to how John obtained his ammunition, saying the investigation was ‘very active.’
His motive is currently unknown.
Giamanco holds a concealed carry license to protect his family, his mother said.
