Kaylub Giamanco called his mother minutes after fatally shooting a teenage gunman inside his daughter’s elementary school.
Giamanco, 36, was on his lunch break Thursday when he drove past Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, and spotted armed suspect Griffin John, 16, entering the building. The carpenter, whose two daughters attend the school, watched John throw his long gun over a fence and open fire on a driver who tried to confront him, officials said.
“He said, ‘Mom, I just shot and killed somebody.’ And I said, ‘Kaylub, tell me about it,'” proud mother Karen Freeman told KOVR-TV as she choked up with emotion.
“And he said, ‘A man went into my daughter’s school and shot kids.’ And he said, ‘And I looked at him point blank, and I shot and killed him, mom,'” Freeman recounted to the local station.
Giamanco stalked the killer and army crawled through a classroom window before opening fire several times on the teen with his legal concealed weapon, according to police. John had shot his way through a set of locked doors en route to his former special education classroom, and Giamanco was in hot pursuit.
The hero entered the classroom to find teacher Megan Lambert, 25, trying to pry a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun away from the crazed killer. Giamanco fired before John could unload his 44 remaining rounds of ammunition, police said.
Three students — 5-year-old Rhoam Summer, an 8-year-old, and an 11-year-old — and Lambert were slain before Giamanco could end the bloodshed. Wheelchair-bound 7-year-old Saylor Graham and teacher Becky Drury, 54, were also critically injured by John.
“It’s tough because I’m — well, I’m thankful that my babies are okay,” Freeman said.
“There are babies that are not. And that’s … that’s hard to swallow ’cause my heart goes out to those families. They didn’t get to bring their babies home.”
School officials have announced that Silver Rail Elementary will be permanently closed in the wake of the massacre.