'I Want to Apologise for Not Saving Their Babies': Oregon Father Who Stopped School Gunman Speaks of His Anguish

Kaylub Giamanco, the father who shot dead a gunman at his two daughters' school in the US state of Oregon, has said he can still hear the children pleading for their lives. He has spoken openly of his anguish and his wish to apologise to the families of those he could not save.

Earlier this month, a 16-year-old former student attacked Silver Rail Elementary School, killing three students and a teacher. Parent Kaylub Giamanco then shot the attacker dead. He has since been hailed as a hero, though he himself is reluctant to accept that label.

In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) that aired on Friday, Giamanco said of the parents of the children killed: "I want to apologise for not saving their babies." He added: "The gratitude for saving people's children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn't save."

Giamanco, 36, said he wanted to meet the victims' families and "cry with them and hold them". Crediting the teacher who fought the attacker with giving him the chance to intervene without losing his own life, he said: "I would love to give her a hug because that's a real true hero."

Police said the three students killed were all boys, aged five, eight and 11. Six people in total were shot in a classroom; alongside the teacher who was killed, another child and a teacher were wounded.

Giamanco told OPB the day of the attack began normally, with breakfast and packed lunches. It was school picture day, so he and his wife spent extra time getting their daughters ready. A carpenter by trade, he had taken lunch to work but decided instead to go home to eat with his wife — the decision that brought him past the school as the attack began.

At first he wondered whether someone carrying a long gun was playing a prank. Then he saw the man fire at a pickup truck and head towards the school. Giamanco retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and called emergency services. "I said, 'I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,'" he told the broadcaster.

The attacker shot through the school's locked glass doors to get inside. Hearing children pleading for their lives and more gunfire, Giamanco crawled towards the building. "I told myself this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do," he said.

He crawled through a shattered window and reached the classroom, where a teacher was struggling with the gunman. He opened the door and fired. Giamanco said he fired again when the attacker reached for his weapon. He then placed his own gun on the ground and raised his hands as an officer appeared.

He described feeling like the "last line of defence" between the children and the gunman, and said he "was supposed to be there" that day. Afterwards he called his wife to say he would not be home for lunch and that she needed to get to the school immediately. He then called his mother: "Mum, I just had to take the life of what I think might be a child because he ran into my daughter's school with a gun."

Police identified the gunman as Griffin J John II, a former pupil who had attended special education classes at the school. His motive remains under investigation. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said the teacher who confronted the attacker had thrown her phone at him, tackled him and fought to take his shotgun, and that she "almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed".

The youngest victim was Rhoam Summer, 5. His father said the family was "broken and lost". Megan Lambert, 25, the teacher who was killed, was working in what her family described as her "dream job". "She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs," they said. The other two boys have not been publicly named at their families' request. The injured teacher, Becky Drury, 54, said in a statement shared with US media that the gunman shot her as she tried to shut her classroom door.

Giamanco's name became public less than a day after the shooting. His mother, Kenda Freeman, read a family statement saying he was not seeking recognition and asking for privacy. Shortly after the attack, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised his intervention while acknowledging its emotional cost: "Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well."

Giamanco told OPB he now lies awake after his family goes to bed, replaying the attack. "I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams," he said. A school, a father's courage and the irreparable loss of several families — the Oregon shooting has once again brought America's debate over school gun violence to the fore.