- Kaylub Giamanco told a 911 dispatcher, “I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.”
- Giamanco told OPB he heard children pleading and gunfire while Army crawling, thinking, “this is probably the last thing that I’m ever going to do.”
- Inside the school, Giamanco crawled to the special education classroom where he saw a teacher struggling with the shooter and shot the shooter two more times to prevent him from moving.
- After the incident, Giamanco recalled someone telling him he was a hero, but he responded, “I didn’t save everybody. I didn’t get them all.”
- Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Police Chief Mike Krantz praised his courage and the teacher's actions.
- Giamanco continues to relive the traumatic event, saying 'I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams.'
- Giamanco's decision to skip a snack and go home for leftover tacos, rather than stopping at a masonry shop, led him to the scene of the shooting near his children's school just before 1 p.m.
- Seeing the killer toss his weapon over the school fence, Giamanco, who kept a .40 caliber handgun in his truck console, realized what was happening and opened his center console.
- Giamanco described his panic and immediate response, telling Siri to call 911 as he realized children were inside.
- Giamanco entered the school despite the danger, saying, "People are going to die," and described hearing gunfire and children pleading for their lives as he army crawled.
- When the shooter scrambled for his weapon, Giamanco shot him two more times to ensure he couldn't move.
- Giamanco recounted his mother comforting him as a hero, but he expressed guilt for not saving everyone, saying "I didn't save everybody. I didn't get them all."
- Giamanco described the lasting trauma—"I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams"—and his resolve to use his voice to change the world.
Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and military veteran, became a hero when he confronted a shooter at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. The incident unfolded when Giamanco, who was passing by, saw a 'man in black' with a shotgun opening fire.1
“I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,” he recalled saying before rushing into the school. As he crawled inside, he heard children pleading for their lives and gunfire erupting.2
“That’s when panic filled into my brain, and that’s when I opened my center console,” Giamanco said. He quickly retrieved his .40 caliber handgun and made his way to a special education classroom where he found the shooter struggling with a teacher.3412
Giamanco fired at the assailant, stating, “I looked at him and I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn’t move because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else.” His actions prevented further bloodshed, but he expressed deep remorse for not saving all the victims.
“I didn’t save everybody. I didn’t get them all,” he lamented, reflecting on the lives lost, including three children aged 5, 8, and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised Giamanco's bravery, stating he “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.” Giamanco, who described himself as “just a carpenter from Bend, Oregon,” vowed to use his voice to advocate for change in the wake of this tragedy.
“Giamanco, a .40 caliber handgun owner, decided to skip a snack and opted for leftover tacos, leading him to the school just before 1 p.m. Police Chief Mike Krantz credited a teacher who tackled the shooter, saying it 'almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.'”
CBS News
