Father who ended Oregon school shooting recounts the fight for his daughters' lives

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, said he entered a state of mission mode when he saw his daughters' school under attack. On Oct. 15, he was driving home for lunch when he watched the shooter, identified as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, fire at a pickup truck. The gunman then forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Oregon, where Giamanco's two daughters attend.

Giamanco followed the shooter into the building. He crawled in and peered through a classroom window, where he saw the gunman struggling with an unarmed teacher. According to police, the teacher tackled the shooter. Giamanco said that intervention gave him a split second of opportunity with two people side by side.

"I knew that he wasn't paying attention to me, so it gave me the opportunity to swing the door open and step in and complete my mission, so to speak," Giamanco said.

He shot the gunman once. The shooter remained alive, struggling with his weapon and trying to regain control. Giamanco said the shooter was attempting to speak, but he did not listen. "I didn't want to hear what he had to say. He had taken lives," Giamanco said. "I said 'F, you.'"

Giamanco stated he knew the shooter had taken the lives of children aged 5, 8, and 11. One teacher and a 7-year-old were also injured in the shooting.

After confirming the shooter was dead, Giamanco dropped his gun. He checked on the other teacher, who ran away from him. Giamanco said he understood her reaction, assuming he might be another active shooter. Police arrived shortly after. Giamanco raised his hands and asked for help. He then asked if he could pick up his weapon and go to his car to leave the scene.

"During the situation I was not scared. Like I say, it was the fight mode that clicked in, and I completed my mission," Giamanco said. "It wasn't until I called my wife and that everything kind of flooded in on me."

Kelsey Giamanco had been tracking her husband's location on her phone. She noticed he had stopped at the school before he called her. She drove immediately to the school to meet him. When Kaylub Giamanco reunited with his children, he described feeling mixed emotions. He was sad that other families were not holding their children that night, but relieved that his daughters would grow up.

He has not returned to his job as a carpenter since the shooting. He is considering a career change and may start a nonprofit focused on mental health and school security. He rides motorcycles and dirt bikes to distract himself, but he still hears children's screams when he closes his eyes.

"I know exactly what that audio is in my brain," Giamanco said. "That's where, again, when I'm alone at nighttime and ready to go to bed, I don't always go to bed. Sometimes I get trapped in my brain."