A mother has described how her son confronted and fatally shot a gunman during an Oregon school shooting after seeing him open fire at the elementary school attended by his children.
Three children and a teacher were killed at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend before Kaylub Giamanco, 36, shot the suspect, authorities said. Another child and a teacher were wounded and remained in hospital.
Police said they believed the 16-year-old attacker had been targeting a class of children with special needs. He was identified as Griffin J. John II.
Giamanco’s mother, Kenda Freeman, said her son had been travelling home during his lunch break when he saw the teenager on the school campus.
“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,” she said.
Freeman said her son entered through a window that had been shattered by gunfire, crawling through the opening before confronting the shooter.
She said Giamanco called her shortly afterwards and told her: “Mom, I just shot and killed somebody.”
When she asked what had happened, he said: “A man went into my daughter’s school and shot kids,” before adding: “I looked at him point-blank, and I shot and killed him, Mom.”
Giamanco is the father of two children who attend Silver Rail Elementary School. Both survived the attack.
Freeman, who lives in Sacramento, California, said her son had grown up in Placerville but had lived in Oregon for more than 30 years. She described him as a contractor who had been familiar with firearms for much of his life and legally owned and carried his own weapon.
She said the shooting had left him traumatised, despite praise from members of the community and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek.
“I told him he was a hero, he did what he had to do, and that he did the right thing, and that I was proud of him and that he was a hero and he saved a lot of lives,” Freeman said.
But, she added, her son replied: “Mom, I couldn’t save them all.”
Freeman said Giamanco had been struggling with thoughts about what he might have done differently and how he could have saved more people.
“He’s having a hard time with it — again, the idea of not being able to save them all,” she said. “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?’”
Police said the suspect used a shotgun bought by his mother and fired up to 15 rounds during the classroom attack.
Freeman said the family was focused on coping with the tragedy rather than the wider political debate over gun ownership. She said her son had grown up hunting and owned a firearm to protect his family.
“Hug your babies, love your neighbours,” she said.
