‘I have to go in,’ Bend school shooting hero told a 911 dispatcher. ‘People are going to die.’
Oregon Father Recounts the Moment He Entered Bend School During Shooting
Qwenews.com – A Bend father and military veteran says he acted on instinct when he saw a teenager carrying a shotgun near Silver Rail Elementary School, where his own children are enrolled. Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter, entered the school after a gunman opened fire, later describing the decision as one driven by fear for the children inside.
Four people were killed in the attack: three students and a teacher. The shooting unfolded one week earlier at the elementary school in Bend, a central Oregon city. Police said the 16-year-old gunman gained entry by shooting through glass panels in an exterior set of doors.
The teen had previously attended the school as a special needs student, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said.
An Unplanned Drive Past the School
Giamanco had not planned to be near the campus that afternoon. He said he had packed food for the day but chose to go home for lunch with his wife instead. While driving past Silver Rail Elementary, he saw the teenager with a shotgun.
His own firearm was inside the center console of his truck, where he said it had been sitting unused. When the shooter threw his shotgun over a fence and climbed over after it, Giamanco said his fear turned into immediate action.
“Panic fled into my brain,” he said, describing the instant he opened the console.
Giamanco jumped the fence and moved toward the building. He heard shots fired through the school doors before the gunman went inside. For him, the emergency had become painfully clear: children and educators were trapped in a place meant to be safe.
“I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,” Giamanco recalled saying during a 911 call.
Inside the Building
As he approached the school, Giamanco said he heard children crying out and pleading for their lives. He began crawling forward more quickly, using an Army crawl as gunfire continued. He later said he believed he might not survive the decision to enter.
“There’s children, there’s babies in there,” he said.
Once inside, Giamanco made his way to a special education classroom. There, he saw a teacher struggling with the gunman. He fired his weapon, and both men fell. The teacher then got up and escaped from the room.
Giamanco said he saw the shooter trying to reach for his weapon. Fearing further violence, he fired twice more.
“He was scrambling for his weapon,” Giamanco said. “I shot him two more times” because he feared the teenager could still harm someone else.
The gunman died at the school. Police and emergency vehicles arrived as sirens filled the area around the campus.
After the Gunfire Stopped
Giamanco returned to his truck, placed his gun on the floorboard, and called his wife. Instead of meeting her at home for lunch, he told her to come to the school. He also called his mother while still processing what had happened.
His mother tried to reassure him that he had done the right thing and had saved lives. But Giamanco said his attention remained fixed on those he could not reach in time.
“I didn’t save everybody. I didn’t get them all,” he said.
His account reflects the lasting trauma that can follow an act made in seconds amid extraordinary danger. He said the images and sounds from the shooting have continued to return when he tries to sleep.
“I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams,” Giamanco said.
A Community Left With Grief and Questions
The deaths at Silver Rail Elementary have left Bend confronting the devastating impact of violence in a school community. The victims included young students and a teacher, and the attack occurred in a setting where families expect children to learn under the protection of adults and school safety systems.
Giamanco’s actions ended the immediate threat, but his own words underscore the limits of any single intervention during a rapidly unfolding attack. His focus afterward was not on being called a hero, but on the people who were lost and the children who experienced terror inside their school.
For families connected to Silver Rail Elementary, the shooting has altered an ordinary afternoon into an event marked by grief, emergency calls, and difficult memories. Giamanco’s decision to enter the building came from his belief that lives were in immediate danger. In the days since, he has spoken openly about the fear that drove him forward and the emotional weight he continues to carry.
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