Hero Dad Describes Taking Down Oregon School Shooter: ‘I See Faces, I Hear Voices, I Hear Screams’

Kaylub Giamanco, the man hailed as a hero for having shot and killed a school shooter in Bend, Oregon, last week, is speaking out for the first time about the moments leading up to the shooting and how he’s coping with the aftermath.

The 36-year-old carpenter, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary School, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that it was by chance that he happened to be passing by the school at the time. He said he decided to go home for lunch that day instead of eating the food he had packed.

As he walked past the elementary school, he saw a “man in black” holding a long gun and shooting at a vehicle. At first he thought it was a prank, but the shooter then threw his gun over the school fence before climbing it.

“That’s when panic rushed into my brain and I opened my center console and said, ‘No, no, no, no,'” Giamanco said in the interview. In the console of his truck was a .40 caliber handgun that he rarely used.

He said he grabbed the gun’s magazine from another compartment, went to the school parking lot and saw the shooter walking through the school grounds.

“I was completely panicked, like, ‘No, there are kids, there are babies in there,'” he recalls. “I told my Siri to call 911.” He said the dispatcher had questions for him, but he didn’t stay on the line.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go. People are going to die,'” Giamanco said.

He described trying to stay out of sight as he followed the shooter.

“I heard him fire two shots into the doors,” Giamanco said. “That’s when I started hearing kids pleading for their lives and then I started hearing gunshots and I started crawling faster and faster and I thought that’s probably the last thing I’m going to do.”

Giamanco said he slipped through a broken window, remaining on his knees until he reached the special education classroom. He said he saw a teacher struggling with the shooter. He said he opened the door and fired.

“He (the shooter) was reaching for his gun,” Giamanco said. “I looked at him and shot him two more times to make sure he couldn’t move because I was afraid he was going to shoot someone else.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek was among those who praised Giamanco’s courage, saying he “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.” Police Chief Mike Krantz also credited the teacher who tackled the shooter and fought for his gun, which “almost certainly helped prevent further bloodshed.”

The police later identified the shooter as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II. The attack killed three childrenaged 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher. A 7 year old girl and a 54 year old teacher were injured.

“I didn’t save everyone. I didn’t get them all back.”

After police and first responders arrived at the school, Giamanco returned to his truck, emptied his gun and called his wife and then his mother.

“She just told me, ‘OK, baby, calm down. You did the right thing. You’re a hero. You saved lives.’ And I said to myself, “I didn’t save everyone. I didn’t understand them all,” he recalls of the conversation with his mother.

His mother, Kenda Freeman, who lives in California, said CBS News Sacramento that her son “has a sincere heart and loves his community, his family and his children.”

A week later, Giamanco told Oregon Public Broadcasting that when he goes to bed at night, he replays that day in his head and wonders if he could have stopped the shooter sooner.

“I live again, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams,” he said.

“These were split-second decisions as shots rang out and children lost their lives.”

He became emotional talking about families who lost children.

“I want to apologize for not saving their babies,” he said. “The gratitude for saving people’s children is overwhelming, but there are some I didn’t save.”

In the days following the shooting, Giamanco sought to avoid the spotlight by issuing a brief statement expressing gratitude to first responders and the community. However, he told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he now decided to share his story.

“I always wanted to change the world, but I felt small. I’m just a carpenter from Bend, Oregon. I wasn’t anyone but my friends and family,” he said. “I feel like if I’m going to have a voice, then I’ll be damned if I don’t use it to change this world, to make it a better place.”

He said he hopes to help raise money for local schools to improve their safety.