A father who shot a teenage gunman dead at his daughters’ school has revealed the final words he said to the child killer.
Kaylub Giamanco, 36, ran into the school after hearing the gunshots of a 16-year-old who opened fire inside a special needs classroom at Silver Rail Elementary School in Oregon, where three children and a teacher were killed.
The father-of-two says he snapped in ‘mission mode’, tracking down the gunman and bravely putting an end to the massacre.
Giamanco has now spoken about the terrifying incident, which took place on October 15, as well as the lasting impact it’s had on him. He says he still hears the screams of children pleading for their lives.
Giamanco was driving home for lunch when he spotted a teenager carrying a shotgun outside the school, where his daughters, aged 5 and ten, were pupils. He watched the gunman fire at a passing pickup truck before making his way onto the school grounds.
The dad called 911 but decided he couldn’t wait for police to arrive. Shots were already being fired inside the building, so Giamanco ran in after the attacker.
Speaking to CBS News, he described how his instincts took over as he realised what was happening.
‘It was like fight or flight, and something clicked, and I just, I analyzed the situation. I knew something was up. All the emotions flood out of me. I just kind of went into a mission mode,’ he said.
Inside the school, Giamanco approached a classroom where a teacher was fighting with the teenage gunman.
The teacher, who was unarmed, had thrown her mobile phone at the attacker before tackling him and attempting to wrestle away his shotgun. Her actions gave Giamanco a chance to intervene.
‘I knew that he wasn’t paying attention to me, so it gave me the opportunity to swing the door open and step in and complete my mission, so to speak,’ he recalled.
Giamanco said he fired at the teenager, who fell to the floor but was still struggling with his weapon. The gunman appeared to be trying to regain control and began saying something to him.
The father fired again, killing the teenager. He told CBS he had no interest in hearing what the attacker wanted to say.
‘I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. He had taken lives,’ Giamanco said. ‘I said “f*** you!”‘
He added: ‘I don’t know what he was about to say and it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. I just knew he had taken the lives of innocent little babies.’
The three children killed in the attack were aged five, eight and 11. A 25-year-old teacher, Megan Lambert, also lost her life, while another teacher and a seven-year-old pupil were seriously injured. Both of Giamanco’s daughters survived.
Police identified the gunman as Griffin J. John II, a former pupil at the school in Bend, Oregon. Authorities praised Giamanco’s actions, saying that the death toll could have been even higher without his brave intervention.
They also credited the teacher who fought the attacker with helping to prevent further bloodshed. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz described her actions as an example of ‘true heroism’.
Shortly after the shooting, Giamanco called his wife and mother to explain what had happened. His mother later told CBS she had reassured him that he had done the right thing and saved lives.
But despite being hailed as a hero, Giamanco has struggled to come to terms with what he witnessed. The carpenter hasn’t returned to work since the shooting and says the sounds of that day have stayed with him.
He can still hear the ‘children’s screams and what it sounds like for them to plead for their life’.
‘I know exactly what that audio is in my brain,’ he said. ‘That’s where, again, when I’m alone at nighttime and ready to go to bed, I don’t always go to bed. Sometimes I get trapped in my brain.’