An American public school building. (Image: Jeffrey Beall / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 3.0)
Two heroes emerged Friday from the horror at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon: a teacher who threw her cellphone at a teenage gunman and tackled him, and a father who followed the shooter into the classroom with his licensed pistol and killed him before police could arrive.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, choking back tears at a Friday press conference, laid out the sequence inside the special-education classroom where 16-year-old Griffin J. John II opened fire Thursday afternoon. When the teenager burst in with a 12-gauge pump shotgun, one of the classroom's teachers threw her phone at him, tackled him, and fought to wrestle the shotgun from his hands. She was not injured.
"She almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," Krantz said. "The teacher who was willing to stand and fight for her children, that's true heroism."
As the two wrestled, a 36-year-old father of two students — identified by family members as Kaylub Giamanco — entered the classroom and opened fire. Giamanco had been in his car on his lunch break when he saw the suspect fire at another vehicle and then shoot through the school's locked glass doors around 1 p.m. He pulled his licensed pistol and followed the teenager inside.
Police said the father fired multiple shots, killing John II. By the time officers arrived at 1:02 p.m. — three minutes after the first 911 call at 12:59 — the shooter was already dead. His mother, Kenda Freeman, said Giamanco "is not seeking recognition" and asked for privacy on his behalf.
Police named the shooter as Griffin J. John II, a former student at the school who had received special-education services. He fired about 15 rounds inside the classroom and was carrying 44 more. His victims: 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert, whose family said working at Silver Rail had been her dream job; a 5-year-old boy, Rhoam Summer; and children ages 8 and 11, whose families asked that their names be withheld. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were wounded and remain hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
President Donald Trump hailed the bystander on Friday. "Thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it," he told reporters, according to AFP.
The shooting has reignited America's fiercest gun debate. The National Rifle Association praised the father, while the gun-control group Giffords called for stricter measures. Gun Owners of America spokesperson Luis Valdes told Newsmax the incident proves "gun-free zones must go" and teachers should be armed: "Our teachers, our staff, and our parents need to be armed." He noted that Oregon lawmakers in 2021 let school districts bar even concealed handgun license holders from their property — and the Bend-La Pine school board adopted such a ban that December.
Krantz closed his briefing with a plea to recognize what courage had bought. "To the people who showed courage in the face of such violence and intervened to prevent this tragedy from being any worse, we owe you a debt of gratitude," he said. "I don't think we can underestimate or under-appreciate that courage."