Father Killed Oregon School Shooter After 16-Year-Old Slew Four

Kaylub Giamanco shot and killed the 16-year-old gunman who attacked Silver Rail Elementary on Oct. 15. The father acted during a lunch break when he saw a boy carrying a gun enter the school where his children attend classes. He said his instinct to fight or flight took over, prompting him to grab his own firearm and run inside.

Giamanco found the shooter in a physical struggle with a teacher. By the time the father arrived, the teenager had already killed three students and one educator. The victims were aged 5, 8, and 11. Giamanco stated he did not want to kill anyone but felt the action was necessary to stop further deaths.

A teacher had engaged the shooter before Giamanco arrived. She threw her phone at the boy and then tackled him. Giamanco fired his weapon while the two were grappling. The 16-year-old shooter died at the scene.

Giamanco spoke on the CBS Mornings show on Tuesday. He described the difficulty of sleeping after the event. He said the problem for him is closing his eyes and hearing children’s screams and what it sounds like for them to plead for their life. He added that he sometimes gets trapped in his brain.

The father reunited with his daughter after the shooting stopped. He described mixed emotions, feeling happy to hold her but sad for the parents of the deceased. President Donald Trump praised Giamanco for his actions. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she was thinking of him and the heavy emotional burden he will carry.

Lindsay Nichols, policy director at Giffords, offered a different perspective. She told HuffPost that a parent shooting a killer inside their child’s school is not a success story. She called the event a tragedy and said no parent or teacher should ever be required to be that brave. Nichols argued that passing common-sense gun laws works better than relying on a bystander to take down a shooter.

Police told The Associated Press that the shooter’s mother purchased the gun used in the attack. Nichols noted that guns from the shooter’s home are a recurring theme in mass shootings. She said Oregon law currently allows a parent to provide a firearm to a child without proper supervision. She argued that the law should require adults to supervise a minor to whom they have given a firearm.