Kaylub Giamanco was on his lunch break when he heard gunshots at his daughter’s school. He didn’t hesitate for a second, but rushed to the school with his own weapon, found the shooter, and killed him. Then he called his mother, and she shared what he told her after his heroic action.
Of course, the experience was incredibly traumatic for Giamanco, not only because he had to kill someone at point-blank range, while unsure if his girls were okay, but because he is wrongly blaming himself for not getting to the shooter before the crazed teenager killed three children and a teacher. Giamanco is pictured on the left below, while the shooter, Griffin J. John, is on the right.
Three little boys and a 25-year-old teacher are dead. An armed dad stopped it from being worse. * Griffin J. John II, 16, walked to Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon. * He threw a shotgun over the fence and climbed in. * He shot out the glass on the locked doors. * He went straight into the special-needs classroom, where he was a former student there. - Killed: boys ages 5, 8 and 11, including Rhoam Summer, 5. - Killed: teacher Megan Lambert, 25. Her family says she "always fought for the underdog and those with special needs." -A 7-year-old in a wheelchair was shot in the face. -An aide, 54, was also wounded. - He still had 44 rounds on him. - Officials say his mother bought the shotgun around his birthday in August. - No school resource officer was there. That one officer covers 6 or 7 schools. - A teacher threw her phone at him and fought him for the gun. - Then dad Kaylub Giamanco, 36, ran in with his legally carried pistol and shot him dead. A good guy with a gun saved lives. Again.
— Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1) October 17, 2026
Kenda Freeman, Giamanco’s mother, shared the story through tears in a clip that CBS News Sacramento posted. Freeman is from California, but her son has been living in Oregon and raising a family there for years. His daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary School, where John murdered four people and injured two others, including a wheelchair-bound kid.
MOTHER OF HERO SPEAKS OUT 🙏🏼 Kaylub Giamanco’s mom just described the phone call she got moments after her son stopped the school shooter in Bend, Oregon. “He said, Mom, I just shot and kiIIed somebody.” She asked him to tell her about it. “A man went into my daughter’s school and shot kids. And I looked at him point blank and I shot and kiIIed him, Mom.” She told him he saved a lot of lives. His answer: “Mom, I couldn’t save them all.” He was driving home from lunch when he heard the shots. He pulled up onto the grass, grabbed his gun, and followed the gunman back into the school. He army-crawled through a window the shooter had already blasted out and ended the attack. Three kids and a teacher were already gone. His own daughters were safe. Now he’s struggling with the ones he couldn’t reach and asking himself what he could have done differently. This is what happens when a good man with a gun runs toward the sound of gunfire instead of waiting for someone else to show up. THAT is what stopped more of them from dying. Kaylub Giamanco is a hero.
— TONY™ (@TONYxTWO) October 17, 2026
Giamanco called up his mother right after the shooting. “He said, ‘Mom, I just shot and killed somebody.’ I said, ‘Kaylub, tell me about it.’ And he said, ‘A man went into my daughters’ school and, um... shot kids.’ And he said, ‘and I looked at him point-blank, and I shot and killed him, Mom.’ I told him he saved a lot of lives, and he said, ‘Mom, I couldn't save them all.’”
People around the nation, including President Donald Trump, are praising Giamanco for ensuring the massacre was not even worse. He and a teacher who tackled John put their own lives on the line to save as many kids as possible. But while no one could possibly have expected Giamanco to do more, he is still devastated that other families had to bring their kids home in coffins.
Related: New York Mom Kills Her Toddler, Then Reports It to 911
Freeman explained, teary-eyed, “Kaylub has a genuine heart, he loves his community. Kaylub knew something was not right. So he pulled up onto the grass, grabbed his gun and basically stalked the gunman back into the school. And he crawled through a window that the gunman had shot out. He army-crawled through the window. It's tough, because I'm... while I'm thankful that my babies are okay, there are babies that are not. And that's, um, that's hard to swallow, 'cause my heart goes out to those families that didn't get to bring their babies home.”
Giamanco is also “having a hard time with it. Again, you know, the idea of not being able to save them all, right? So when he closes his eyes and the things that he thinks about, what could I have done differently? How could I have done it better?” Freeman added.
One thing is certain — without Giamanco’s courage, even more teachers and children would have died.