Bend Father Describes Stopping Deadly Attack at Silver Rail Elementary
Cyberzenhub.com – A Bend father says he felt compelled to act when he saw an armed person dressed in black jump a fence at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15. Kaylub Giamanco, whose two daughters attend the school, entered the building and fatally shot the gunman after the attacker had killed three students and a teacher.
The shooting also left a student and a teacher injured. Giamanco, a carpenter and lifelong Bend resident, has spoken publicly for the first time about the moments that unfolded as he approached the elementary school.
He was driving home when he noticed the armed person crossing onto school grounds. The sight immediately triggered alarm, he said, and he retrieved his firearm from his vehicle’s center console.
“That’s when panic fled into my brain. That’s when I opened my center console and I just said, ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ and I grabbed my gun.”
Entering a School Under Attack
The gunman fired through the school’s front doors before entering a special needs classroom, where police said the attacker opened fire. As Giamanco neared the building, he heard the terrifying sounds of children calling out and gunfire coming from inside.
“I started hearing children pleading for their lives, and then I started hearing gunfire.”
Giamanco moved through the damaged entrance on his hands and knees. When he reached the classroom, he found a teacher fighting with the gunman. Police said the teacher had tackled the shooter and attempted to take away the weapon.
Giamanco said that confrontation created the opening he needed to intervene.
“I swung the door out and open and I stepped in and I fired. He was scrambling for his weapon, and I looked at him and I shot him two more times.”
The gunman died at the scene. Police have praised Giamanco’s actions, saying he undoubtedly prevented further harm during an attack that had already devastated students, staff members and families connected to the school.
Grief Alongside Gratitude
Though many have called Giamanco a hero, he has focused on the people he could not reach in time. Speaking emotionally about the victims, he expressed sorrow for the children and educator who were killed.
“I want to apologize for not saving their babies. That’s probably the biggest thing for me right now, because the gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome. But there was ones that I didn’t save.”
His words reflect the painful divide that follows a tragedy of this kind: relief that additional lives may have been saved, and lasting grief for those who were lost. In schools and communities affected by violence, survivors and families often carry both emotions at once.
One of the adults killed was 25-year-old Megan Lambert. Her family thanked Giamanco and described him as a hero, saying that he put himself in danger for other people.
Giamanco has also directed praise toward the teacher who confronted the gunman. He said her effort to restrain the attacker gave him a chance to act and may have protected him from being harmed himself.
“I would love to give her a hug because that’s a real true hero.”
A Community Facing Loss and Recovery
The attack at Silver Rail Elementary School has left Bend confronting the deaths of four people, injuries to two others and the profound fear experienced by children, educators and families. The school serves as a place built around learning and routine; the violence disrupted that sense of safety in an instant.
For parents, the events underscore the intense trust placed in teachers and school staff each day. The teacher who confronted the shooter did so while students were in immediate danger, and Giamanco’s account highlights how rapidly decisions were being made inside the classroom.
Giamanco said he believes his presence that day carried a larger meaning. His daughters’ connection to Silver Rail Elementary made the attack deeply personal, but his decision to enter the building affected far more than his own family.
“I can tell you that I genuinely feel like I was supposed to be there.”
As Bend mourns the students and teacher killed in the shooting, the focus remains on the victims, the injured survivors and everyone whose lives were altered by the attack. The courage shown by people inside and outside the school cannot erase the loss, but it stands as a reminder of the efforts made to protect children amid an unimaginable emergency.
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