How small decisions put him at the scene
What began as a boring Thursday—leftover tacos and a choice about whether to stop for hardware bolts—ended up changing everything for a local carpenter. Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father from Bend, says a couple of ordinary detours landed him near Silver Rail Elementary just before a gunman opened fire on Oct. 15. The attack had already claimed lives, and Giamanco found himself in the middle of a nightmare he never planned for.
Spotting danger and reacting fast
Driving by, he noticed a man dressed in black with a long gun. Giamanco watched the shooter toss a weapon over a fence and then climb it. Realizing what was happening, he called 911 but felt he couldn’t answer every question. Instead of waiting, he moved closer while trying to stay out of sight, keeping his own handgun where he could reach it.
Getting into the classroom
From his knees outside the building, he could hear children crying and the terrible sounds of gunfire. He says he started moving quicker, army-crawling toward the noise, convinced this could be the last thing he ever did. He slipped inside through a broken window, made his way to a special education room and prepared himself for a life-or-death confrontation.
The confrontation
Inside, a teacher was grappling with the shooter over the weapon. Giamanco says the shooter hadn’t noticed him, so he opened fire to stop the threat. After an initial shot, the attacker was still moving toward the gun, so Giamanco fired again to prevent any further harm. The teacher retreated—possibly mistaking Giamanco for another attacker—and law enforcement arrived shortly after.
Calls home and the immediate aftermath
Once police secured the scene, Giamanco asked to call his family. He rang his wife—no tacos tonight—and then his mother, who comforted him and told him he’d done the right thing. But instead of relief, he was left wrestling with the fact that not everyone survived. That sense of not having done enough has been heavy on him ever since.
The human cost and his struggle
Officials have praised Giamanco’s quick actions, and local leaders have called out the bravery both he and a teacher showed that day. Still, the carpenter says he can’t sleep and keeps replaying the scene in his head: faces, voices, screams. He hasn’t met the parents of the children who were killed and feels a deep, personal sorrow for those he couldn’t save.
Community reaction and perspective
Bend law enforcement publicly acknowledged that people who stepped in that day likely prevented further deaths. For Giamanco, however, the accolades are complicated. He appreciates the gratitude, but it’s tempered by his grief over the lives lost and the weight of what he witnessed.
Where he’s heading from here
Giamanco says he’s always wanted to make a difference, and this terrifying experience has only sharpened that desire—though not in the way anyone would wish. He remains a carpenter and a dad, but now he carries the memory of that day with him, trying to sleep, trying to heal, and trying to reckon with both the lives he helped protect and the ones he couldn’t.
