Kaylub Giamanco says he still hears screams from Silver Rail Elementary

Kaylub Giamanco, the father who shot and killed the shooter at Silver Rail Elementary in Oregon, says the trauma of that day remains vivid. Speaking on CBS Mornings on Tuesday, he described the difficulty of blocking out the memory of the students. “The problem for me is just closing my eyes and hearing children’s screams and what it sounds like for them to plead for their life,” he said. “That’s where it’s really disturbing for me,” he added, noting that he sometimes feels trapped in his own mind.

The attack occurred on October 15. Giamanco was driving home on a lunch break when he saw a boy with a gun enter the school. He stated that his fight or flight response took over, prompting him to enter the building with his own firearm. Inside, he found the 16-year-old shooter engaged in a struggle with a teacher. By that moment, the shooter had already killed three students, ages 5, 8, and 11, along with one teacher. Giamanco said he did not want to kill anyone, but he determined that neutralizing the shooter was necessary to stop further deaths.

A teacher played a key role before Giamanco arrived. She threw her phone at the shooter and then tackled him. Giamanco then shot and killed the teenager. Afterward, Giamanco was reunited with his daughter. He described having mixed emotions in that moment, feeling happy to hold her but grieving for the parents who lost their children.

Public figures have reacted to the incident. President Donald Trump praised Giamanco for his actions. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said she was thinking of him and the heavy emotional burden he would carry. Gun rights activists have often argued that teachers should be armed to handle such threats. However, Lindsay Nichols, policy director at Giffords, disagreed with that approach.

Nichols told HuffPost that a parent shooting a killer inside their child’s school is not a success story but a tragedy. “No parent or teacher should ever be required to be that brave,” she said. She argued that passing common-sense gun laws is more effective than relying on a bystander to take down a shooter. She noted that the situation could have gone wrong in many ways, including the possibility of police mistaking Giamanco for the shooter.

Police told The Associated Press that the gun used by the 16-year-old shooter was purchased by his mother. Nichols identified this as a common theme in mass shootings, where weapons come from the shooter's home. She pointed out that Oregon law currently allows a parent to provide a firearm to a child without proper supervision. “The law should require adults to supervise a minor to whom they’ve given a firearm,” Nichols said, calling the current rule a loophole that should be closed.